Zero's Noble Overlord
by Shintouyu
Summary: The Overlord, man of many titles and known for his noble deeds, was to be forever trapped in the Abyss. Yet, one day, a portal opens up and allows him to escape from his eternal prison, and thus he becomes the guardian familiar of a little strawberry blond girl. [Discontinued]
1. Introducing The Overlord Of The Abyss

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter One - Introducing The Overlord Of The Abyss

* * *

Hello there, dear reader, I shall be your narrator for this little fairy-tale.

Now imagine the voice of an old man. Now imagine that he doesn't bore you to death. I sound a lot like that.

You are now manually reading everything in my voice.

But before I tell you of the real story, allow me, and by _'allow'_ I mean that you have no choice if you want to continue reading, to tell you of a tale that began before this one.

...

Once upon a time, in a legend long ago, there was an Evil Overlord who ruled in his ominous Dark Tower and commanded an army of sinisterly stupid goblin-like creatures call Minions to do his bidding.

He did evil things, like being evil. Such as the villain he truly was.

And of course, where there are villains, there were also heroes.

A halfling bard, a elf ranger, a human paladin, a dwarf inventor, a thieving woman, a giant berserker, a old wizard, and a silent gladiator; This eight person group fought against the Evil Overlord and won triumph.

They all returned home and were hailed as the Seven Heroes! There were seven, of course, because the silent gladiator had fallen off the Dark Tower and was left to his grim fate.

And thus peace returned to lands!

For a short time anyways.

It did not take long for a new Overlord to arise and replace his late predecessor. His task was simple: kill off the Seven Heroes and restore the Dark Tower.

The Overlord started with humble beginnings, you see. He only had some Brown Minions to his name; they were childishly stupid but loyal creatures. So he did the first thing any respectable person of his position would do: wreck havoc on the little people.

It was all for a good cause, of course!

First, the Overlord freed the small village of Spree from the Halfling's control. Next he crashed their big feast and returned the stolen food back to the starving villagers. Then he relinquished his Red Minions from their slavery and procured himself a Steel Smelter and forged the finest weapons and armor that a overlord could make with steel.

And, oh, of course he just had to chase down that tub of lard, Melvin Underbelly the Gluttonous Halfling Hero, and execute the fat bastard. It would be almost poetic to say that he received his just desserts, but in truth he blew up like a chunky pinata and his bits and pieces will never be scrapped off his personal dining room.

The next order of business for the Overlord was investigating the mysterious burning of Castle Spree. He chased away the thieving raiders and their magical beholder. Consequently he also saved the traveling diplomat, Rose, and she became his mistress.

Feisty gal, that red-headed woman was.

The Overlord's next targets were the Elves that lived in Evernight Forest. What a surprise that the once verdant lands were now a dark, damp, place of misery. You know, a Dwarven invasion that enslaved the elven population occurring alongside foul creatures of nightmares that have been born into reality certainly has a way of corrupting things.

Too bad though, the forest was just as much a swamp as it was a forest, and Minions had quite the talent in drowning in any body of water that was larger than a puddle. So the Overlord had to refrain from fully the explaining the place until later.

For now he recruited the Green Minions and then set his sights towards Heaven's Peak, which, according to his Mistress Rose, was experiencing a plaguing problem: the undead. But unfortunately he couldn't storm right in, the city was put into quarantine and the gates had been withdrawn.

So after saving the Blue Minions from stupid but ferocious birds, the Overlord then sneaked into the city of Heaven's Peak by way of their horribly infested sewage system, killed the guards, and liberated the city.

Oh, he also slayed the source of the plague, the Succubus Queen, purged the city of the remaining undead, retrieved a Durium Smelter and forged the best durium equipments, and became the deity of a silly cult called the Silent Order; silly in the sense that they sewed their mouth tight but still didn't shut up.

Anyways, the Overlord came uninvited to the party of Sir William the Black the Lustful Paladin Hero, and quickly started slaying all those love-starved cultists of the Red Dawn. It was a long grueling process for the him to chase down that pathetic whining noble and run a sword through him; I would have made a joke about sheathing swords but the Overlord doesn't swing that way.

Oh, he also freed his mistress' captive younger sister, Velvet, and ignored the woman's obvious attempt at seducing him.

Truly, the Overlord was very faithful towards Rose. In fact, he took a small break to spruce up the Dark Tower to her liking and sire a heir; they had a rocking good time.

And then it was back to Evernight Forest for some unfinished business. The Overlord saved their sacred tree from bloodied unicorns, desecrated the graves of elves, and was tasked to retrieve their Mother Goddess statue from the dwarves. After that he gave a nice wake-up call to Oberon Greenhaze the Slothful Elven Hero, source of the corruption, and made sure to give him a peaceful dirt nap.

It was the Dwarves turn now. In the land of the Golden Hills their fortresses dotted the domain and the Overlord deemed it fit to pay a visit to every single one of these prime dwarven facilities. He raided their smelting factory and made off with the Arcanium Smelter and all the bonuses that comes with that, stole their valuable gold, destroyed their outposts, and even took their precious beer.

Dwarves couldn't quite handle handle sobriety and Minions could always use a good slosh.

Eventually, the Overlord went deep into the final dwarven mine and blew up the war-engine of destruction, Rollie, before finishing off Goldo Golderson the Greedy Dwarven Hero. As the mine collapsed from the lost of all its supporting pillar, he did a questionably good deed by choosing to save all the female elves instead of taking the giant bag of gold, thus saving their race from extinction.

Then the Overlord tracked down the mysterious thieving raiders, that had attacked Castle Spree and had snatched the Mother Goddess from the dwarves, to the Ruborian Deserts; he was out to catch Jewel the Thief the Envious Bandit Hero. It didn't take much to trick the coward into a trap that whisked her away into the Dark Tower to be imprisoned and interrogated.

For all intents and purposes, she was a weakling, but the same couldn't be said of her lover though.

Khan the Warrior the Giant Beserker Hero was going on a rampage in the village of Spree and the city of Heaven's Peak, looking for his lover. He was throwing a mighty tantrum and speaking in angrish while sending waves of beholders and ruborian raiders to pillage the territories under the Overlord's domain.

And the great and mighty Overlord would have none of that. Only he was allowed to terrorize the people of these lands, even if he didn't personally indulge in such things; kicking around the Minion Jester was far more therapeutic.

He freed Spree, and let them live with their life despite their mild betrayal, and then he freed Heaven's Peak after cutting Khan down to size.

And thus the day was saved thanks to the Overlord!

But alas, when the Overlord returned to the Dark Tower his Minions had discarded him!

His predecessor, the Evil Overlord, was now in possession of the Wizard's body and had returned to reclaim his position. He gloated about his evil plan, about how he had purged the wizard of his soul and stole his body and how he tempted every single one of the six remaining heroes towards sin. All the meanwhile, he had secretly guided his temporary successor, the amnesiac Overlord, previously the Eighth Gladiator Hero, to kill off the other heroes for him.

It was a cunning plan but it forgot one tiny little detail... the Overlord was a juggernaut. Falling off a tower and left to die and being betrayed were but minor setbacks for him.

The Overlord proved to be a more formidable foe than the Evil Wizard had predicted. Gathering all his magic and all his truly loyal Minions, the Overlord engaged the prideful wizard in one final confrontation and emerged victorious; forever shutting up the ramblings of that old fool.

And so, one overlord defeated another overlord.

The Overlord commanded the fear and love and respect of his citizens. He was a competent ruler and peace returned to the lands!

Once again, for a short time anyways.

Rumors began to spread about a mysterious gateway to heaven and disappearances followed shortly afterward. In truth, it was a gateway to an ironic hell known as the Abyss.

The Overlord explored the domains of the abyss and forged a weapon that could slay Troll Kings and armor that could stop a dragon's breath. He also sent his regards to the Seven Heroes by putting in his own personal touch upon their eternal punishment.

Then he stumbled upon the Forgotten God, ruler of the Abyss and a cursed nameless being trying to escape from its imprisonment. However, in a fierce battle the Overlord consumed the deity with the flames of hell and ended his reign.

And then predictably, the Minion Jester, that the Overlord always kicked around, betrayed him and trapped him in the Abyss.

Without a deity to worship, the denizens of the Abyss sought out the Overlord and placed him on a pedestal instead, and he became the Overlord of the Abyss and ruled the ever since.

But that didn't make the Abyss any less boring.

The energies of the Abyss had long changed the Overlord from being human as the untold ages passed by him. Though his form was still the same, he could be liken to a physical demi-god now; when he was stripped of the magic and spells from the Dark Tower, he went about to remastered his Fire, Flamethrower, and Combustion spells while learning a few new tricks here there, enough that he could fight an entity of fire and burn them to death with the greatest of irony.

Yet there was absolutely nothing for the Overlord to use his powers for.

Originally, he was just an amnesiac going around killing the Seven Heroes and restoring the pillaged Dark Tower; a somewhat dastardly deed, if not for the fact that all the Seven Heroes were essentially sin incarnates, the Dark Tower was the home of his lovable Minions, and he, in general, made everybody's life better when he became their ruler.

Still, his powers had a purpose then, but now his powers held no meaning.

What was it all for...? To protect his territory that he could longer visit? To command the Minions that he could no longer control? To assist his wife that he could no longer be with? To protect his child that he could no longer raise?

Yes, perhaps that last one was his greatest regret: to be denied the chance to watch his child grow up.

And so the Overlord stood unmoving like a statue in the vast wastelands of the Abyss and simply waited for time to end. Despite all his powers, he could not escape and was stuck here to rot forever.

Truly, how the mighty have fallen.

But luckily for him, one day a green circular portal suddenly opens up on the ground in front of him.

It was a way out of his current predicament.

The Overlord could feel it. Someone was calling for him and he felt gratitude for his mysterious benefactor. That person was calling him for a reason and he would wholeheartedly answer that call. Perhaps he could finally find a good purpose to swing his sword for once more, like he did oh so long ago.

With little delay and with little thinking, the Overlord takes one step into the portal and escapes from the Abyss.

Thus the real story begins there: in the country of Tristain, upon the fields outside of Tristain Academy of Magic, within the Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual by a certain strawberry blond haired girl.

It is the day that the girl known as '_Zero_' summons the man known as '_Noble_.'


	2. Strawberry And Knight

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Two - Strawberry And Knight

* * *

Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, a person with a overly long name that was common amongst people of her society, was a young lady of seventeen. She had strawberry blond hair and amber eyes that bordered pink and looked even younger than she already was. She was a second year student at the prestigious Tristain Academy of Magic and had the highest scholarly grade within the school, except that she suffered from a truly abysmal track record for her practical grade.

All of her spells, without exception, caused explosions when they failed, not '_if_' but '_when_' and they always did fail, thus earning her the nickname of Louise the Zero; '_Zero_' as in '_zero success rate_.'

Funny how her fellow peers are absolutely afraid of her explosive outcomes, yet still continue to tease her for it. Clearly those idiot children haven't realized that they're insulting a walking time bomb.

Today was the final day of the of the first week of the new school term and all the second year students were required to perform the Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual, otherwise more widely and oddly known as 'Summon Servant,' to bring forth their creature familiar that would serve them until death do them part.

Many of Louise's classmates summoned boring creatures such as domestic cats, dogs, mice, birds, or reptiles. Only a handful summoned anything remotely interesting. Which, I've noted as being a large mole, a fire lizard, and a dragon, who all looked more outlandishly cute than actually dangerous.

As for Louise, well, she hasn't managed to summon a thing for the last few tries. Her magic exploded for the _n_th time and she was absolutely dirty with dust. She wanted to cry. This event was make or break for the young noble girl, the most important day of her life, she wanted to prove to all her peers, teachers, and her family that she was a real noble, a real honest-to-their-Founder mage and not some little girl playing make-believe.

Still, there was a limit to her already low self-esteem and just one more failure would push her over the edge.

Mustering up all of her itty-bitty courage left, Louise swallowed her pride and beg, "Please... My servant that is somewhere out in this world... The sacred, beautiful, and, above all else, powerful familiar... I ask of you... Hear and answer my call!"

And hear he did.

The Overlord had stepped into Louise's summoning portal that tore through time and space and escaped. Problematically, the portal ejected him one-hundred feet in the air. It's not like he had a fear of heights or anything, the gigantic fall off the Dark Tower barely registered for him, mostly because he was in a technical coma afterward and doesn't even remember the terrifying event, but still, he was essentially a huge man in a suit of armor and heavy objects falling from the sky whilst at the mercy of the cruel mistress known as 'Gravity' tend to break things.

Break them hard I mean.

_BOOM!_ or whatever sound or onomatopoeia would be appropriate to convey the fact that a very heavy and armored man fell from nearly one-hundred feet high in the sky, caused a small shockwave whilst kicking up dust upon impact, and inducing a comparable fear to the sound that a shark makes when it breaks down a door.

Louise fell on her little bottom but didn't bother to stand up. She just knew it, there was a little hum in her head that told her that she had summoned something, so she concentrated hard to peer into the dust cloud, and as it cleared away she could see a shadow rising up.

And up.

And up.

And up once more!

A large armor-clad person, the mighty Overlord, stood before her in all his free glory.

Louise looked young. Compared to her many classmates that were experiencing some sign of puberty, the girl still looked like she was only twelve, thus she was only half the size of a grown man. And a grown man to the Overlord was half of his own size, his giant figure really emphasized just how tiny Louise was.

The Overlord stood tall and proud. His very posture exuded pure pressure of raw intimidation and power. Adorn in dark armor from head-to-toe, no words could do justice and describe the very visage of his greatness.

Pure rich magical energy cleansed the Overlord's senses and calmed his mind and refreshed his spirits. He could not feel the strong taint of Evil Energy or Infernal Energy in this world nor the deary atmosphere that he had grew accustomed to.

He stood on a endless grassy plain under a clear sky of heavenly blue with the gentle breeze of the wind, surrounded by children dressed in white shirts, black bottoms, and wore a black cloak.

And there, on the ground before him was the person who had called him: a little girl with pink hair and pink eyes whilst intimidating a fish with her mouth.

This was his summoner. A young girl who, perhaps, wielded magic superior far greater than even his own.

But alas, the child was completely unaware of the immense deed she had just performed by pulling the Overlord out of the Abyss nor the true talents that lied locked within her! After all, who could believe that Louise the Zero, master of explosive failures, had managed to summon a physical demi-god?

That would be the Overlord of course; he was no fool. Even though his repertoire of magical spells were on the small side, he has spent the better years of his life stuck in the Abyss teaching himself the fundamental of magic; overlord magic, but magic nonetheless. So the Overlord could tell, he could feel the raw essence of the tiny summoner before him, if her abilities were properly nurtured then she would achieve great things in the future.

Seconds past as the crowd of children soak in the Overlord's presence before they begin to chatter amongst themselves.

"He's huge!" "His eyes are glowing!" "Look at that armor!"

And various other obvious observations amongst the speculative fuel.

Of course, the Overlord only heard what they were saying because he was instructed by his wife, Rose, to always keep his ears open to the populace. That didn't mean he had to care, he was indeed a benevolent ruler without being a total pushover, but he left the politics to his wife or adviser.

More importantly, he kept his watch on the pink head girl before him. Not a single ounce of fear could be found, only curiosity could be seen sparkling in her wide-eyed child-like innocent looking eyes.

This. This was the familiar that Louise was looking for! Sacred, beautiful, and powerful! A being that oozed raw royal essence, armor that looked like it was forged by master craftsmen and put even the Manticore Knights to shame, and size that looked like he could wrestle with a fire dragon. Certainly, it was not a beast as she had expected, but atleast she didn't summon something pathetic like a commoner.

"I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere!" she quickly spitted out and stood up, "Who are you, familiar?"

But the Overlord does not answer. Why would he? He's practically a mute.

Louise's tiny mouth formed a frown from his silence, "Answer me, why won't you speak? Can you not understand what I'm saying?"

Oh, he perfectly understood her just fine. He's just not a talkative fellow.

She mildly fumes at his inaction, "Mister Colbert!" she yelled, calling out to the only middle-aged man in the group, "What am I to do now?"

'Mister Colbert,' full name Jean Colbert, was the balding teacher and supervisor of this little gathering. It was his job to make sure that every single one of his students properly summoned a familiar and contracted with it.

"Complete the contract, Miss Valliere," he says, "That is your duty as a second year student."

"Take off your helmet," she commanded but the Overlord remained immobile, and she is quick to complain to her unfortunate chaperon, "Mister Colbert! How am I suppose to complete the contract if my familiar won't take off his helmet?"

"A kiss is certainly the easiest way to transfer your Willpower into another being, Miss Valliere, but binding a familiar with a kiss is not the only way. Tap the summoning circle with your wand and pour your Willpower into that instead."

She sighs and waves around her wand, "My name is Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being, and make him my familiar," before touching the magical circle below the Overlord's feet.

Nothing happens.

And then suddenly a bright light appear!

The magic circle shines and pours its energy into the Overlord's left hand like a vacuum sucking in dust or a pink blob devouring its enemies. Strange runic letters momentarily shine through his gauntlet before it dims and fades away. He was now the familiar of Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere.

Oh, truly, how the mighty have fallen. Going from overlord of the abyss to becoming the mere familiar of a child in the span of seconds.

Colbert lets out a sigh of relief and speaks happily, "You have failed Summon Servant many times but you have managed to succeed with Contract Servant in one try. Good work, Miss Valliere."

"R-Really?" Louise asked, somewhat in disbelief that a spell didn't blow up for once.

"I don't believe your familiar is willing to take off his gauntlet and show us his Familiar Runes," he said somewhat disappointed, "but since the Summoning Circle reacted just as it should have, albeit late, then he should have become your familiar just fine."

Louise looks at her new familiar with giddy eyes, as though she has just received the best present in all of her young life.

"Well then, let's head back to the academy, everyone," said the middle-aged wizard before turning around and gently floating away. His students followed suit and levitated off the ground, heading towards a castle in the distance.

Well, everybody except for Louise because, you know, 'Zero.'

...

Louise walked side-by-side with her familiar, the Overlord. Not that she knew his name, what he was officially known as, or the many other titles he accrued in his long life.

She had summoned a overlord who had become God/Overlord of the Abyss, which consequently was from an entirely different world from her own, and didn't even realize that. Not that anybody could blame her, as the Springtime Familiar Summoning was only suppose to call forth creatures that came from Halkeginia.

She couldn't help it if her spell had cheated and broke through all known preconceived notions of the how the ritual was suppose to work and even tore through reality itself just to summon her improbable familiar.

He was a physically imposing figure but Louise was taught to take command over her familiar. '_Rule of Steel_' it was called, a mindset beaten into her by her famous war-hero mother.

"Remember this and remember it well, familiar! I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, the third daughter of the Valliere family, and I am your master!" she said, "Right now you are in the country of Tristain, and over there is the renowned Tristain Academy of Magic, the best academy of magic in all of Tristain. I'm a second year student attending there and from now on you are my familiar! Do I make myself clear?"

The Overlord continues his stride without pause. He already understands his situation quite well and, in fact, doesn't mind it. He was extremely amused at the situation. There were only two people in his realm that could get away with speaking to him on a authoritative level: his wife Rose who had a slap to enforce it and his adviser Gnarl who was in the position to do so.

Nerves of arcanium this little girl had.

Meanwhile Louise took his silence as agreement.

Oh, how wrong she was.

The Overlord obeys no one, considers maybe, but obey? Oh, definitely not.

...

Little Louise was back in her room all alone; the Overlord was simply too big to fit through the door into her room and was just standing outside like an unmoving statue.

That was abit of a hindrance.

While it's true that she didn't have any immediate plans for her familiar, he didn't look to be good in any job except for being a bodyguard, she atleast wanted to question and examine him in the privacy of her own room.

Well, it was getting late, so she decided to wait until tomorrow.

...

Nighttime.

The Abyss had no sense of time; there was no sun, yet it was always a sizzling daytime. The darkened day of this world was a welcome relief to the Overlord, having already spent many sleepless nights he could easily spare another one to enjoy his first moonlit night in a very long time.

The Overlord went about exploring the academy grounds.

He passed by a pair of flirting children: a short curly blond hair boy that reminded him distastefully of Sir William the Black the Lustful Paladin Hero and a rather nondescript long brown hair girl.

He happened upon some hard-working servants that were running to and fro. Some with laundry, some with food, some with books, and many other things; accidentally spooking them with his glowing eyes.

He saw a girl flying about with her dragon in the sky.

And he spotted a sole maid diligently washing laundry with cold water.

There was something about her that was different from the other humans the Overlord had seen today. Indeed, the features of the people in this world was quite similar to the people in his own realm but this maid looked foreign for one reason or another.

It was only mild curiosity that moved his feet towards her.

She stuttered at his sudden appearance, suppressing a yelp of fear and the urge to run away, but after his form was properly lit by the moonlight she shifted uncomfortably for a moment but made no attempt to leave and continued her duty while trying to be conversational.

How diligent indeed.

"S-Sir Knight, is there anything I can help you with?"

Receiving no answer despite some more of her prodding, the maid sighs and steels herself for his staying and silent presence, humming a soft tune as she scrubbed the clothes and worked through the large basket besides her.

The Overlord looks up to catch sight of two moons high above in the night sky; one blue and one green.

The world was oddly familiar, yet still strangely different, but beautiful nonetheless.

...

Morning came and Louise groggily woke up to the sound of her alarm clock.

By her Founder, she did not have a magical alarm clock and she didn't understand how the invention worked but she knew quite well that its inner-mechanics made it unbearably loud.

And since she always had trouble when it came to waking up, that was a good thing.

Of course that didn't mean she wouldn't be in a daze for the next ten or fifteen minutes. It only meant that she would never oversleep and she was abit of a stickler for time, a thing that her mother was always very strict about.

Louise switched out of her sleepwear and put on her uniform, which for the girls, was a very simple white long-sleeved shirt over a short black skirt. The kind of footwear didn't matter as long as the person could walk in them, so she wore comfortable black shoes along with black thigh-high stockings as her own personal touch.

But, more importantly, she wrapped her long black cloak over herself and buckled it with the golden pendant of Tristain Academy of Magic.

Finally all dressed up, Louise left her room to meet her armor-clad familiar that was standing outside her door like some kind of alien statue that only moved when you blinked.

Soon after another door opened up across the hallway and a literal red-haired, dark-skinned woman strolled out. Despite the fact that she looked very much like a mature woman, she was actually the same age as Louise.

And she had quite the assets that she wasn't afraid to use.

Her name was Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst, a Germanian exchange student. She had long wild red hair and dull blood red eyes. She had some of her buttons on her shirt undone to expose her large breasts and wore leather thigh-high boots and a gold ringlet choker around her neck.

She easily reminded the Overlord of Rose's younger sister, the seductress Velvet.

Kirche grinned at her pink-haired classmate, "Good morning, Louise."

"Good morning, Zerbst," said Louise in almost a low growl.

"Ah, Louise, haven't I told you to call me 'Kirche'?"

"And haven't I told you to stop acting so friendly with me, Zerbst?"

"My, you seem quite irritable today, Louise," and turned her attention towards inspecting the Overlord, "Now that I've seen him up close, your familiar looks very impressive..." and then she narrowed her eyes as an idea came to her, "Ah, in fact... Flame!"

A large dark-red salamander slithers out from Kirche's room.

It was a brag-worthy beast. His unimaginative name was '_Flame_' and he was a creature from the Fire Dragon Mountains; a very volcanic region located in Germania known for its exotic species of reptiles, particularly its namesake of Fire Dragons. It's generally considered the best place to summon a familiar for any fire-affinity noble.

"Flame, be a dear and stand next to that big armored familiar over there," the salamander obeyed and slithered next to the Overlord.

Kirche placed a hand on her chin, and grinned, "Indeed, I have such magnificent eyes for art! Louise, just look at the sight of our two familiars together!"

"What about it?" asked the pink-haired girl in confusion.

"Can you not see the burning flames of these two familiars standing side-by-side? The amazing fire of the ages emitted by familiars seemingly forged in the hottest blazes?"

"No."

Kirche let out a mild sigh, "I suppose that I shouldn't have expected too much from Louise the Zero."

"ZERBST!" yelled out Louise.

With a small smirk Kirche walked away, "It was nice chatting with you, Louise, but I must be on my way now. Come along now, Flame," and left with her fire salamander in tow.

Louise shook a fist at her general direction, "Ooh, she always gets on my nerves!"

...

The Alviss Dining Hall of Tristain Academy of Magic was one of the largest building at the school, named after the dwarf-like statues that turned to life and danced around at night.

The lower-level had three long tables, that could seat one-hundred persons each, for the students: the table on the left for the purple-cloaked third years, the table in the middle for the black-cloaked second years, and the table on the right for the brown-cloaked first years. The upper-level was reserved for the teachers.

And what of the indentured servants? They stayed in the kitchen or went to the privacy of their servant quarters if they wanted to eat their meals in peace.

Naturally, being a second-year student, Louise went straight towards a middle table.

"Tristain Academy of Magic doesn't teach just magic," she started informing the Overlord of, "Since almost all mages are nobility, the saying '_nobles achieve nobility through magic_' is the foundation for which we receive our education. Thus the Alviss Dining Hall must be fitting of our status."

Reaching their seat, Louise tapped her foot, "Well? Pull out the chair for me, familiar."

The Overlord would have quirked a eyebrow at that demand if he wasn't already aware that his little master was quite the spit-fire like Rose was. More so if he wasn't already taught how to act like a gentleman; etiquette that Rose was very adamant about, atleast in private, between her and him.

He pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit down.

Good, good, everything was proceeding just as planned for Louise. Her familiar was quietly obeying her without making a fuss and his presence stunned everybody that looked at him. It felt good, better than good, it felt great, and Louise was loving every second of it.

"That is your meal, familiar," she said pointing at a small bowl on the floor, "and for your good behavior, you can also have this," she handed him an extra piece of chicken with a smile.

What an idiot.

She's lucky that the Overlord isn't a petty man or he would have killed her for such blatant disrespect of his human dignity.

He took the chicken and tossed it into the bowl.

"Oh, Great Founder Brimir, and our lady, the Queen, we thank you for this humble meal that you have graciously provided us this morning," harmoniously resounded from all the people gathered in the dining hall, before they chowed down on their food.

The Overlord simply stood and waited for her to finish her meal.

"What's wrong? Why haven't you eaten?" Louise asked with honest curiosity that was a tad offended.

But of course the Overlord doesn't answer. Nobody should expect him to answer or say a single line during the course of this story. Ever.

While her attention was busy, a red hair and blue hair pair walks up to her; it was Kirche and her best friend Tabitha.

Tabitha was equally as young looking at Louise was and she was the best student at Tristain Academy of Magic. She was a quiet looking individual with short blue hair and blue eyes, and wore red-rimmed glasses, brown shoes and white stockings. She could be almost always seen carrying around and reading a book and used a large crooked staff.

It was an honest mystery to anyone how the quiet and reserved girl became best friends with the passionate and outgoing sex-bomb that is Kirche.

"Something the matter, Louise?" inquired the red head.

"...What do you want, Zerbst?" Louise asked with suspicion.

"Hm~? Well, you let your familiar into the dining hall, so I just came by to let Tabitha say _hello_."

The book girl simply nodded.

"Well, you've said your hello, so leave."

"Nope~" Kirche replied as she eyed the cold bowl on the floor, "I see your familiar refused to eat your offering, Louise."

"It's none of your business, Zerbst!" Louise snapped.

"Oh, Louise," she purred, "when I see something exciting, I like to make it my business~!"

"Name?" piped up Tabitha.

Normally that girl would never speak unless it was absolutely necessary but she wanted to nip their argument in the bud.

That, and she was honestly curious and wary of the Overlord. Nobody but her, and Professor Colbert, had noticed the blatantly magical jewel embedded in his left gauntlet.

"Name?" parroted Louise.

"She's asking for the name of your familiar. I'm also quite interested in knowing it too," Kirche clarified.

"Ah, that is, well, I... I don't know..."

"What?"

"I don't know," Louise huffed, "He hasn't spoken a word since I've summoned him. He hasn't answered a single one of my questions."

Kirche laughed.

"You don't even know his name? Some master you are, Louise!"

"S-Shut up, Zerbst!"

Tabitha quietly spoke without looking away from her book, "Sauthoth," she said.

They stopped, "Sauthoth?" they repeated in unison.

She nodded her head, "Sauthoth."

Contrary to her studious appearance, Tabitha was actually an avid reader of fantasy stories.

Yolg Saron, otherwise known as the Crimson King Sauthoth, was a fictional character from a series of children books called the Tower Mythos penned by H. R. Wordcraft.

Sauthoth was the main antagonist for most of the series, a mysterious being that ruled the second-to-last floor within the titular tower and prevented anybody from going any further. There was a dark secret beyond his domain: though the final floor held the legendary relic to bring happiness and peace to the tower, the item was cursed to grant any wish in despicable ways and was surrounded by unspeakable horrors from the realms beyond.

When the Nameless Hero defeated Sauthoth, they teamed up together to clear the final floor and cleanse the legendary relic. In a battle of hot-blooded action, the two warriors battled and battled and battled until they reached the humanoid form of the cursed item, the Anti-Tower or Tower Nemesis, and finally defeated the eldritch being. The epic struggle broke through the walls and roof of the final floor and revealed a beautiful world that existed outside of the tower and paradise was found shortly afterward.

Not that Louise or Kirche would know any of this.

Despite the wide praises that the Tower Mythos received, H. R. Wordcraft was still a commoner and his books had only a small number of publications, so there aren't many nobles who have actually read the series.

Anyways, the Overlord very much looked like Sauthoth, which prompted Tabitha to name him such.

And he was fine with that. The little blue hair girl had defused the situation, and if the two were anything like Rose and Velvet then their ensuing cat-fight would have been particularly... bothersome to be around, so he was grateful for her help.

The Overlord nodded; the most expressive thing he has done all day.

"Really?" Kirche quirked an eyebrow, "You're amazing, Tabitha! How did you know?" and hugged the smaller girl.

The book lover said nothing, while Louise raised her own eyebrow.

"Your name is '_Sauthoth_'?" she said with crossed arms, "I guess that's a good name," she grumbled.

I think it's a stupid name if you ask me. But what do I know? I'm just the the narrator.

But anyways, congratulations, Overlord!

You've just been named after a children book's villain.

I'm sure that this day can only get much better from now.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Springtime Familiar Summoning/Summon Servant_ [Dot Void/Fire/Earth/Wind/Water] - 'A ritual to summon a familiar beast from anywhere in Halkeginia. Has no set incantation.' - _"My familiar servant... hear and my answer my call!"_

_Contract Familiar/Contract Servant_ [Dot Void/Fire/Earth/Wind/Water] - 'A life-long contract to bind a familiar to a master. Only one familiar may be contracted at a time.' - _"My name is ... Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being, and make it my familiar!"_

_Levitation_ [Dot Wind] - 'Uses gentle winds to pick up a target.' - _"Fly above and over the grounds! The wind that caresses and cradles! Levitation!"_


	3. Guiche You're A Terrible Pile Of Secrets

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Three - Guiche You're A Terrible Pile of Secrets

* * *

Second year students at Tristain Academy of Magic that have just freshly finished the Springtime Familiar Summoning are always given the day after to bond with their new familiar.

So here she was, young lady Louise sitting outside with the Overlord, oh, ahem, I'm sorry, 'Sauthoth,' _pft_, _hahaha_, _oh_, _ah_, nevermind, it's such a silly name!

So, anyways, here she was, young lady Louise and the Overlord, Kirche and Flame, and Tabitha with her Wind Dragon familiar Sylphid, all sitting outside in a circle getting to know one another.

"What are you doing here, Zerbst?" growled Louise.

"We're all friends here, aren't we?" she answered, "So I don't see the problem."

"Us? Friends? Have you forgotten that I'm a Valliere and you're a Zerbst?"

"I haven't but I honestly don't care about that."

"Don't care? You and that flippant attitude of yours! Our family's rivalry goes-"

"You know," Kirche said interrupting, "I'm very interested in seeing what Sauthoth can do, Louise."

Louise blinked and huffed. She raised an eyebrow to the Overlord; she was honestly curious too.

"Well, Sauthoth? What can you do?"

Now, first and foremost, the Overlord was not the type of person to flaunt himself around or gloat; he has never felt that he needed to show-off to prove his strength. Secondly, he was a proud warrior; previously a gladiator, then a hero, and finally a overlord.

So when he touched the sword belted on his waist that was the size of a full-grown man, he was making it pretty clear about where his forte lied in: cutting down anything that gets in his path.

"Is that it?" Louise said somewhat disappointed.

Obviously, the little girl had yet to be on the receiving end of a near twelve foot tall man wielding a near six foot long sword chasing her down. Good thing he's on her side then.

Now prepare yourself to be amazed, folks, as the Overlord snaps his finger, and, viola!

Fire at his fingertips!

And now it's gone; like magic!

Louise straightened up and Kirche stared wide-eyed.

"You can use magic?" they shouted together.

Tabitha on the other hand had already figured as much. Smart girl.

"And it's fire..." muttered Kirche, "A fire mage! No, a Fire Magic Knight~!" she said giddily, "I thought so, you just looked too good with Flame not to have a fire-affinity~!"

"Eh? I-I'm a fire mage then?" fidgeted Louise to herself.

The red head was getting hot by the revelation, "What else can you do?" she cooed.

And that's where the demonstration ends.

It's not like the Overlord had to worry about mana fuel; not at all. His Overcore, the jewel embedded into his left gauntlet, was originally designed to simply connect him to the Dark Tower and its spells, but after years of training in the Abyss, he had learned how to make it harness the ambient mana around him instead.

Nor was he being secretive about it, he honestly had nothing to hide.

Except for, well, his face.

But the Overlord still had pride. He was no simpleton performer who needed money, he was a demi-god who ruled over a realm that was saturated in Infernal Energy, the best type of energy to use for fire magic, and knows quite well that fire is not a toy; after all, he killed a god with it.

If these children wanted him to use his fire spells, well, then they better give him a situation where he needs to use it.

Despite Kirche's, and even Louise's, begging insistence the Overlord remained inactive.

"Oh, poo," Kirche pouted, "and here I was hoping to see more."

"Sauthoth!" Louise yelled to him, "I am commanding you to show me more of your magic!"

Nope, not happening.

"Crowd," noted Tabitha.

"Crowd?" the red-shade pair spoke in unison.

She pointed her crooked staff to the rather large gathering of students on the field further away.

"Oh~? I wonder what's happening over there? Come on, let's go and see~" said Kirche as she grabbed Louise. She already knew that Tabitha would follow.

"Hey!" the young lady protested, "Don't pull me, Zerbst!"

Success!

Oh thank you, Tabitha, for redirecting their attention again. You're a good kid.

...

There was that Sir William look-alike boy standing in the center of the crowd, soaking drenched in wine that was poured all over him, and wiping himself off with a handkerchief.

Then there was a maid, the one the Overlord had met last night that was washing the laundry, trembling before the blond hair boy.

And then there was the rest of the public rabble who were having a laugh at the wine-soaked child.

...

Now let us go back to a few moments before that scene.

As the narrator, I am all knowing and therefore totally reliable for relaying second-hand information in this story. Deal with it.

The boy, who I shall call '_Gushers_,' was hanging around and acting like a total blow-heart with his friends.

"Who are you dating, _Gushers_?" they asked.

"I am a rose that blooms for all!" he replies flamboyantly and '_accidentally_' drops a purple perfume bottle.

The maid, '_Sentai_,' picks it up and, like any good person, returns it, "Excuse me, sir," she politely begins, "I believe you dropped this."

_Gusher_'s friend then started making a big deal about it, saying that it belonged to a girl named '_Mountain_.'

As he tries refusing their claims, a first-year student, '_Kit-kat_', the girl he was with last night, comes up and starts crying.

Then suddenly _Mountain_ appears and _Gusher_ is caught two-timing.

_Kit-kat_ slaps him hard on the cheek and runs off, then _Mountain_ pours wine over him and storms away.

What an idiot.

What kind of fools carries around a perfume bottle that would incriminate himself? Even more so because he had purposely planned to 'lose' it in the field?

Oh, sure, losing it would cause _Mountain_ to throw a tantrum but if someone stole it then she'd throw a tantrum too. It's a lose-lose situation because she would never let _Gushers_ live it down and his two-timing would get out because of that clingy wench.

...

Anyway, let's return to your previously scheduled story.

"Oh, so Guiche finally got caught two-timing?" said Kirche unsurprised.

And there we are, _Gusher_'s real name is 'Guiche de Gramont.' Short curly blond hair and blue eyes, an unbearable fop that carries around a rose and wears a frilly opened shirt. That's him.

"You knew?" asked Louise.

"Of course. I keep my ears open to all kinds of rumor and I am, after all, Kirche the Ardent~"

The Overlord was enjoying the amusing sight; the Sir William carbon copy got exactly what he deserved.

"Maid," Guiche said wiping his face, "I hope you're prepared for the punishment of tarnishing a noble's reputation."

"B-But I..."

Suddenly Guiche's friends butt in, mostly to get some more laughs at him.

"Hey Guiche, it's your fault for two-timing Montmorency!" "Yeah, don't take it out on the maid!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted, "I have been framed and now my, and two ladies', honor have been sorely damaged. Maid," he addressed her, "you are the cause of our misfortune. I won't let you get away with saying that you don't understand what you did."

And now the Overlord wasn't amused anymore.

Back in his realm, there was a rampant problem with those of the upper-class abusing the those of the lower-class. Rose had considered it to wholly inefficient, happy workers were good workers, and thus resolved to take out the trash. It was his job to threaten them, and occasionally gut a few of them, while Rose worked her political and social knowledge in the background.

Indeed, back at Heaven's Peak, the servants that kept the castle clean were particularly productive and cheerful. So it would be a shame to let this diligent and hardworking maid be falsely punished by a snot-nosed brat. A true shame indeed.

The Overlord walked into circle, '_Sauthoth_?' he heard his master say, and plucked the maid by the back of collar, '_Sir Knight?_' he heard her whimper, and stepped before Guiche. His large shadow blocking out the ray of light.

"What the..." Guiche stared at the giant looking down upon him, "Y-You're the familiar of Louise the Zero, what do you want?"

That's simple. He wants to beat you up.

Using his free hand, the Overlord flicks a finger at Guiche's forehead. It was a light hit, he had to control his strength if he wanted to use the boy as a future punching bag now that that nuisance of a Jester was gone.

_GASP!_ the crowd loudly breathed.

"Y-You hit me!" voiced the lad with utter disbelief, "How dare you, you familiar!" he growled and whipped out his rose, "Fight me! A duel, I say! Thirty minutes from now at the Vestri Court; I shall teach you how to show some proper respect towards a noble!"

The crowd of students rustled with energy. Some were swayed by Guiche's flair. Some were curious about how the armor-clad familiar would fare against a mage and vice-versa.

Most were just excited that something new and different was happening.

"W-Wait, Guiche!" came Louise with concern, concern for him getting himself killed that is, "I apologize on behalf of my familiar, so please forgive him, an-"

"I refuse!" he shouted dramatically, "I will not allow this insult to go unpunished! That barbarian shall learn why a commoner should show respect towards their better!" he declared, "And you, Louise the Zero, it seems that you can't control your familiar after all. Once a zero, always a zero, I suppose," he said with a smug smirked and briskly walked away.

"GUICHE DE GRAMONT!" she shouted angrily.

Oh dear, the little fop just insulted her.

"Sauthoth!" she snapped to the Overlord, "Don't kill that no-good skirt-chaser, but show him no mercy! I want him crying on his knees and begging for his life!"

...

The Tristain Academy of Magic was in the shape of a pentagon. The five points were constructed as buildings and they were given a single element each: clockwise, Void to Fire to Earth to Wind to Water.

Furthermore, there were four courts, named after other dwarf-like creatures: the Norori Court between Void and Fire. The Austri Court between Fire and Earth. The Suori Court between Earth and Wind. And the Vestri Court between Wind and Water.

The area in between Water and Void was not a court, just the cobble-stone pathway that leads towards the Central Tower.

Here, at the 'West' Vestri Court, stood the Overlord with his blade in hand. His little master Louise and her classmates Kirche and Tabitha, stood besides her on the sideline with the rest of the crowd. Most of the students were second years and some were first years or third years; all were excited for the match to come.

The girl, '_Mountain_,' ahem, I mean, Montmorency Margarita la Fere de Montmorency was also standing next to Louise.

She had a wide forehead, long golden drill-like twin-tails, with a very clingy and snobby personality and attitude.

"I hope your familiar has what it takes to beats up Guiche," she said to Louise. She was the most eager person watching that wanted to see that playboy get his sorry rear handed to him.

"Hmph," Louise huffed with crossed arms, "Don't underestimate my familiar."

Twenty minutes after, Guiche arrived, all cleaned up for the match.

"There you are, barbarian! I don't know what backwater place you came from, but I shall show you that against a mage, a noble, such as I, that a sword is nothing but a pointy stick!"

The crowd cheered. They were eating up his performance.

The Overlord cracked his neck. Time to get this over with.

Another student came up, one of Guiche's friend, and acted like a referee, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's a duel!" he announced, "The Bronze versus the Knight!"

The students roared with more excitement.

"I am Guiche de Gramont," he declared raising his rose high with a hand on his chest, "Third son of the Gramont family, my Runic Name is '_the Bronze_'!"

Louise took a step forward, "That is my familiar, Sauthoth!" she presented and left it at that.

The blond flicked his rose and a single petal fell in the breeze. Suddenly the petal explodes in a burst of light and becomes a bronze woman clad in bronze armor holding a bronze sword.

"This is my Bronze Valkyrie! And," he flicked his rose to create two more, "they shall be your opponent!"

Louise snorted a taunt, "You'll have to do better than that, if you want to beat my familiar."

"Let the duel begin!" shouted the announcer boy as he left the arena.

...

The Overlord was filled with power that came from his Familiar Runes. He could feel it, it empowered him and made him stronger and faster and gave him knowledge of how to best use his Abyssal Blade.

It was all completely unnecessary though; he didn't need it.

A swing of his armed-arm and he swept the area in front him and cut through all three valkyries like butter.

His reach was far longer than Guiche thought it was. The sword looked small when it was sheathed on his waist and even when he held it in his hand, but that was it, an optical illusion of perspective, it only looked small on the armor-clad familiar because the Overlord was huge.

The Abyssal Blade, the Life-Stealing Sword, was near six feet of pure destruction and it would take more than soft bronze to stop it.

Speedily the shocked Guiche waved his rose frantically to summon five more bronze valkyries; the maximum he could quick-summon now that he rose was depleted of petals. All five were armed with spears. He waved the stem around, as he chanted a magic spell.

The boy was now taking the Overlord more seriously.

The valkyries maneuvered to surround the Overlord, their spears pointed outward to keep him from advancing. But that would not work.

He took one step, two steps, three steps, and then the bronze valkyries attacked with their spears, the tips cracking upon impact with his Abyssal Armor and forcing them to retreat.

"GROUND POUND!" Guiche shouted before beginning another spell.

The ground erupted into pillars that sought to hammer at the giant man and barely slowed down his pace.

Two bronze valkyries sought his glowing eyes that shone clearly under his helmet and jabbed their spears forward. The Overlord grabbed and yanked their weapons off their hands, snapping the spears with a clench of his fist; and the pair backed away.

Quickly the remaining three jumped in and also aimed for his eyes; the only opening in his full-body armor.

A single valkyrie thrust forward their spear and the Overlord caught it. The second immediately went in to land the attack but the Overlord headbutted the spear. The third closed in, beneath his sight, and pushed the spear forward, the Overlord reacted by twisting his head away and swung his sword to cut down the bronze valkyrie.

The surviving pair retreated; four Bronze Valkyries remained.

"EARTH TOWER!" Guiche yelled and started another spell.

The earth below the Overlord shook and shot up to launch him into the air, but he stabbed his sword into the ground, held tight with one hand, and stomped his foot down reducing the force to a mere startled jump.

A valkyrie jumped up from behind his back to wrap and tighten its arm around him. Another made for his sword arm to keep him from pulling it out. And the last two grabbed him by the waist.

The Overlord reached for the one on his neck and threw it off onto the ground; it merely readily got back up and ran towards to restrain him.

They persistently cling to him without letting go.

"SHATTERED EARTH!" Guiche declared after his long chant.

Then all the bronze valkyries lit up in a bright flash and exploded into pieces, and those pieces exploded, and those piece's pieces exploded, and so forth and so forth. Even the ground below the Overlord exploded in a chain reaction that caused dust clouds to form and choke the air.

It was such destructive killing force that it made Louise's typical explosive failures look like popping soap bubbles in comparison.

"Sauthoth!" Louise could be heard be crying, "Sauthoth!" her voice was drowned out amongst the many other cheers and whispers of the crowd at Guiche's final spell.

Meanwhile Guiche was breathing heavily. It was the first time in a long time for him to use up so much of his willpower. You see, the Gramonts are an established family in Tristain for their military service, thus every family member has, minor or major, training to fight in wars.

The blond boy was a perfect example of that. Guiche's Bronze Valkyries were used to bolster forces or for divide-and-conquer tactics, 'Ground Pound' and 'Earth Tower' were used to disrupt an enemy's advancing army's movement, while 'Shattered Earth,' while having high damage potential, was generally used as a smokescreen to cover retreats.

Even though he was just a Dot-Level mage, Guiche was, without a doubt, trained to fight and survive. However, this was the first time in his life that he had to string together all those spells in quick successions, thus he was very tired.

"I might have gone alittle overboard," he huffed out seriously, staring into the dust clouds before him. He was only planning to rough up the barbaric familiar, but went and killed him in the heat of the moment. Well, if the giant man was lucky, he could still be saved but horribly crippled.

_Hahaha!_

Nope.

One step. Two steps. Three steps. The sound of even footsteps touched the ground and silenced the chattering crowd.

"I-Impossible...!" the blond boy muttered.

And the Overlord strode out into the sun, looking no worst for wear or tear.

I said it before, didn't I? Back in the Abyss, he had forged armor that could stop a dragon's breath.

And now it was the Overlord's turn.

...

His master had ordered him not to kill the skirt-chaser, and indeed he could have ignored it, but the Overlord was not a murderer for no good reason.

Certainly, Guiche had tried to kill him, accidentally or not, but it was a duel. A gentlemanly duel between a age-old man and a bratty child inside the academy grounds. The Overlord had logic and leniency to give, if only because scaring the brown waste and treating the boy like a punching bag in replacement of the jester was far more incentive for him to do so.

Now, the Overlord was not a torturer, that was Gnarl's duty, but he knew quite abit about intimidation. For example, the fear of pain. No, no, not inflicting it, just merely the fear of it.

He stomped his feet onto the ground, sending a shockwave that jiggled up Guiche's leg.

"Ah!" the boy gasped as he weakly collapsed onto the ground.

Then the Overlord raised his foot and placed it just above the boy's head.

"W-W-Wait! I surrender! I yield! I give up!"

Louise walked forward, "What was that, Guiche? I can't hear you," she said smugly.

"I lose! I lost! You win! You won! Please, have mercy!"

"Those aren't the words I'm looking to hear, Guiche!" Louise growled.

"I-I-I... ah! I'm sorry! Your familiar is not a barbarian! No, not at all!"

"Is that it?"

"A-And, I'm sorry, this entire thing is my fault! I'll apologize to Katie and Montmorency after this!"

"Guiche de Gramont," Louise sneered, "you're dancing around the subject," she snapped her fingers, "Sauthoth!"

And the Overlord just lowered his foot just abit.

"No, no, no, no! What is it? What is that you want me to say?"

"Oh? Did the great son of Gramont forget his manners at home? Insulting a lady such as I and pretending that you could get away with it... you truly are a fool."

"I'M SORRY!" Guiche immediately shouted, wide-eyed, "My dearest, sincerest, humblest apologies to you, Louise! You are definitely not the a 'zero'! Y-You summoned the greatest familiar that I could ever hope to lay eyes on! I, Guiche de Gramont, third son of General Gramont, swear, from this day forth, that I will never call you that name ever again! You have my word! Please, forgive me!"

Louise smirked, "That will do."

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Bronze Valkyrie_ [Dot Earth] - 'A golem made of bronze in the shape of a valkyrie.' - _"Heed my call, the glorious maidens of war, and take form from the earth! Grant me victory, Bronze Valkyrie!"_

_Ground Pound_ [Dot Earth] - 'A rapid expansion of dozens of earth pillars.' - _"Pillars of the earth, erupt and bare your mighty fangs! Ground Pound!"_

_Earth Tower _[Dot Earth] - 'A single large rising pillar that usually launches those standing above it into the air.' - _"Oh, earth below the skies, rise upward and pierce the land of the heavens above! Earth Tower!"_

_Shattered Earth_ [Dot Earth] - 'Causes the earth to explode for a brief duration in a designated area.' - _"Oh, great mother earth, bearer of the bountiful lands and master of the grounds! Hear my vow! My enemy that defiles your soil shall be buried under the might of the one true blessed earth! Rumble and scatter the land, Shattered Earth!"_


	4. Believe In Me Who Believes In You

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Four - Believe In Me Who Believes In you

* * *

By no means does summoning a powerful familiar meant that a mage was equally ready for that familiar. No, not at all.

A familiar represented several things, such as: _One_, the affinity of their summoner. _Two_, the latent potential that summoner had. _Three_, the best fit partner for their summoner.

In this case, the Overlord embodied the second representation more strongly.

And Louise would have to learn that the hard way.

...

The week in Tristain, and all of Halkeginia, was, unsurprisingly, only five days long; this entire world had some weird obsession with their pentagon-shaped magic system that was founded some 6000 years ago, and therefore also loved the number 'five.'

Day of the Fire, Day of the Earth, Day of the Wind, and Day of the Water served as the weekdays, meanwhile Day of the Void was the sole weekend.

The Overlord was summoned on the Day of the Water and the duel with Guiche occurred on the Day of the Void. It was now the day after, so it was now the Day of the Fire, therefore the start of a new week.

And that meant classes.

Since yesterday, the rest of the students have been avoiding Louise and the Overlord.

The Overlord was already the big scary guy but it was only just yesterday in the duel with Guiche that he got to cement that status. The student body had assumed that he was some kind of barbarian warlord from the outer-regions because of his size and armor, though regardless of all that, a commoner nonetheless.

And then he goes and shrugs off bronze spears and a earth explosion spell.

Now they weren't all too sure anymore. Was he really a magic-less commoner? Was he actually some kind of knight within some country's military before he was summoned? Was he even human? Obviously, nobody went up to ask him any of those.

Except for that maid, '_Sentai_,' er, I mean Siesta; she was overjoyed at her dark armored savior but, of course, he didn't answer any of her probing.

As for Louise, nobody wanted to mess with her unless they wanted her to sic her familiar on them. They were scared of her and stopped calling her 'Louise the Zero' because of the scene she cause yesterday. What teenager their age wouldn't be? She threatened Guiche with death and then had the boy grovel at her feet in apologies.

And Louise loved it.

She felt powerful and untouchable with her familiar at her side, so she had stride into the classroom like she had owned the place. Surprisingly, the Overlord walked right in too, the doors were actually large enough for him to fit without breaking down a wall or something.

But then that all came to an end when the teacher selected Louise, who seemed brimming with confidence, to transmute some pebbles into a different type of metal.

Naturally, the teacher was an idiot and wasn't aware of Louise's 'zero success rate.' Her classmates certainly didn't forget and went about hiding in their desk or outright leaving the room. Kirche was the only person willing to protest but was promptly ignored.

_KABOOM!_

Louise's spell had failed and the pebbles exploded.

The blast threw her and the teacher against the blackboard. Students screamed as they thought they were going to die by the largest explosion they've ever seen and felt yet and their familiars equally panicked in the mayhem. Papers flew away in a flutter, ink vials spilled, tables and chairs were overturned, and so forth.

The classroom was a complete and utter mess.

"Why...?" she choked out.

She realized that she was still Louise the Zero.

...

Class was canceled as the traumatized teacher went to rest for the rest of the day and Louise was left to clean up the mess she had made. The Overlord did some heavy-lifting of the desks and chairs but otherwise left all the cleaning to his little master.

Strangely enough, Kirche and Tabitha were helping too. Well, Kirche was anyways.

"Well, Louise," the red hair said, "I think that was biggest explosion yet."

The little lady shot her a dirty glare, "Not now, Zerbst," she snarled.

"Hm, your familiar seems to be a fire-affinity magic knight, but you yourself don't seem to be a fire-affinity mage at all~"

Do you have anything to say about, Overlord? No? Okay, stay classy.

"And?" Louise said with disdain.

"Oh, you know~," she purred, "Just thinking out loud."

"Then keep your thoughts to yourself, Zerbst!"

"Oh, Louise, are you really so angry that you've already forgotten the basic of summoning a familiar?"

The pink head tapped her feet, "And that would be?"

"There are two types of summoning," Kirche started, "The first is where you summon a familiar of equal strength, for example, me and Flame," her salamander flickered his tongue, "The second is when you summon a familiar of greater strength, like you and Tabitha. And in the case of the second, it's merely a sign of the potential you hold as a mage."

Louise tilted her head. She already knew all that and was wondering where the red head was going with this.

Kirche sighed, "My, Louise, where you always this dense?"

"Out with it!" she said flustered.

"What I'm saying is that, just because you summoned a powerful familiar like Sauthoth doesn't mean you're suddenly going to become a powerful mage."

Bingo!

Tabitha nodded her head.

"Oh," uttered Louise, "Oh... Oh. OH!" her cheeks grew bright red as she realized the hidden attempt to cheer her up.

She turned around to keep Kirche from seeing her face, '_Thank you..._' she whispered.

The red head girl's lips curled up ever so softly before she grinned widely, "Well then, let's hurry up and finish cleaning before we're late to lunch."

"R-Right..." Louise said. She would never say it out loud but, despite her family rivalry, despite her own outward attitude toward her, despite the fact that the Germanian often teased her, she thought of Kirche as a friend. After all, the red head was pretty much the only person at the academy who would go out of their way to socialize with her.

And Louise was always thankful for the girl's positive company.

...

On their way to to the dining hall, the group was stopped by a very nondescript male teacher who seemed to have been waiting for them.

"Ah, you there, you're Miss Valliere aren't you?"

"I am," Louise replied politely.

"I see, and that must be your familiar, is he not?" he gestured towards the Overlord.

"Yes, he is."

"Well, Miss Valliere, there have been some complaints about your familiar."

"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know that you had specially requested for your familiar to sit-in during meals with you but the other students are voicing their concerns of favoritism," he continued, "Unfortunately, I must say that we either allow all the students to sit-in with their familiar or none of them can."

"Oh." Louise saw where this was going.

"So you understand, don't you? That your familiar must eat outside with the other familiars?"

"Yes, I understand, sir."

"Good, well then, if you'll excuse me, I'd best be off," and he left. Hopefully, I might add, never to be seen ever again.

...

Louise's group, consisting of herself, Kirche, and Tabitha went inside the Alviss Dining Hall to eat lunch. Meanwhile the Overlord's group, consisting of himself, Flame, and Sylphid were waiting out on the field with the other familiars.

Since we've haven't seen much of the Overlord yet, let's focus on his group shall we?

And, well, they were doing absolutely nothing of note.

Nothing. At. All.

Some of the familiars were eating, some were playing around by themselves, with other familiars, or doing tricks with their master, and others were just sleeping.

The servants that were there feeding the meals outside were going through a process of elimination to see what kind of food the familiars would like to eat. They were obviously readily done with the more ordinary familiars, but the more exotic ones were somewhat tougher to nail down. And in the Overlord's case he didn't eat at all.

Well, atleast Siesta was trying to feed him cake but he didn't have much of a sweet tooth.

"Sir Knight," the maid started, "I don't believe I had the chance to properly thank you yet," and bowed, "Thank you, for protecting me from that noble boy."

It was his pleasure.

No, really, it really was. He enjoyed scaring the sense out of that Sir William look-alike; fun times.

"To even win against a noble with but a sword, you truly must be a great knight."

Hey, stop it! Stop imprinting your wild fantasies on him!

Ah, whatever.

Anyways, Siesta is just going to be showering the Overlord in praise, so let's move on.

...

Back in the dining hall, Louise was quietly enjoying her meal.

And then Kirche started talking.

"So Louise~" she cooed, "are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Oh my, did you really forget?" said the red head genuinely surprised.

"Familiar Exhibition," voiced Tabitha quietly.

"Familiar Exhi...bi...tion...?" muttered Louise, and then something clicked, "Oh! My! Founder!" she mumbled, "How could I forget about the familiar exhibition!" her voice was rising to a shrill, "But, eh? That means...!"

"Uh, Louise? Calm down."

"No, no, no, no, no! The p-princess is coming! I can't let her see me make a fool out of myself! P-Performance! What kind of performance am I going to do? I haven't prepared at all?" and then Louise's motormouth got the best of of her, '_Swordplay?Firemagic?EncoreofmatchwithGuiche?_' were the best she could properly voice before sounding like someone was angrily typing jibberish on a keyboard.

...

"SAUTHOTH!" his little master shouted out at him whilst power-walking towards him. She had jolted out the dining hall, leaving her meal half-finished, and was in a obvious rush.

Kirche was following behind with a amused look on her face, while Tabitha walked gracefully reading a book in hand. The Overlord only turned his head to face the pink head girl wondering why she was in a panic all of sudden and Siesta merely tilted her own head.

Louise's panic quickly changed into enthusiasm at the sight of her impressive familiar. Her eyes were gleaming as she imagined her victory at the Familiar Exhibition.

"I must become the best master there ever was!" she spouted out with a pointed finger, "Thus, to train you is now my cause!"

The red head snickered and the demi-god wondered what the little girl was going on about.

"By my name of Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere," she proudly said with hands on her hip, "we will win!"

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Pre-Lecture Notes Before Explosion_ - The element of Void has been lost since the Founder Brimir's time of 6000 years ago.

Mages and Spells are arranged in accordance with strength: Dot, Line, Triangle, Square, and Pentagon/Pentagram. Mages and spells that are stacked once are Dot, stacked twice are Line, stacked thrice are Triangle, and so forth.

Earth magic is primarily used in forging metal, construction buildings, and harvesting crops. Only Square-class Earth mages and above can transmute metals into gold.

_Transmutation_ [Dot Earth] - 'Changes one metal-type into another.' -_ "Thy stone, thy metal, thy form and shape, change into that of the earth of which I seek! Transmutation!"_

There are approxiamately: 300 Students, 15 teachers (plus 1 headmaster and 1 secretary), 100 servants, and 30 guards at Tristain Academy of Magic.


	5. You Are The Protagonist Of Your Own Life

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Five - You Are The Protagonist Of Your Own Life

* * *

The Springtime Familiar Summoning is a nation-wide Academy of Magic event that always occurs during Spring, well duh, at the end of the first week for the school term.

Meanwhile, the Familiar Exhibition is a nation-wide Academy of Magic event that generally occurs during the end of the second week or third week of the school term. For most academies, this is just a day for the students to earn extra credit.

However, being the top academy in all of Tristain, the Tristain Academy of Magic puts higher importance on the event. This is because someone from the royal family always comes to watch their exhibition, and it's quite possible for students to get ahead in life if they manage to either impress any officials that came along or the royal member themselves.

The Familiar Exhibition was especially important for Louise because she was a Valliere. Her family was just right below the Royal Family of Tristain in terms of nobility; her father was the Duke and her mother was the Duchess. Therefore, you could say that there was alot expected out of her, either to win the competition or atleast rank in the top five.

Oh, and Louise is a very... zealous supporter of Henrietta de Tristain, Princess of Tristain, so there was that driving her too.

Seriously, '_fangirl_' doesn't even speak volumes of the pink head's devotion to the princess at all.

Anyways, that's why everybody at Tristain Academy of Magic where in a bustle.

It was now the Day of the Wind, the day before the Familiar Exhibition that was happening on the Day of the Water. Servants and teachers were hustling about to set-up the stage platform the students were suppose to perform on, the seats for the audience, and the private booth for the headmaster and the princess to use, all on the Norori Court.

Meanwhile, the headmaster and his secretary were finalizing the seating chart, the orders the students were going, the guard arrangements, and making sure they had safety measures in place for any out of control performances.

As for the students, they spent most of their free times coming up with performances that wouldn't totally embarrass them onstage; dogs building forts out of pillows, barking songs, and making depressed faces. Cats making silly faces or silly poses. Birds wearing a top-hat, monocle, and a cane looking very suave or tap-dancing. Considering how ordinary those familiars were, it really was the best they could do.

As for the more exotic familiars, they were learning real tricks.

Except for Guiche who was simply posing with his giant earth mole; on the other hand, to his credit, he was admittedly very focus and very intense about choreographing it very seriously.

Kirche was teaching Flame how to dance while spitting out fire, which was alot harder and more beautiful than it sounds. The Germanian red head's Runic Name was 'the Ardent,' and for anybody unwilling to take out a dictionary, that simply meant that she was passionate. And it showed.

Tabitha was keeping her training a secret though; only practicing with Sylphid during the night when everybody else was asleep.

Louise and the Overlord were the less than cooperative pair. The Overlord was, as expected, refusing to comply with any of young lady's demand, especially since they involved the use of fire magic. Louise had gotten so mad, she tried to kick him in the shin, which, quite frankly, only ended up with her injuring herself and switched to a whip instead which barely registered as a tickle for the armored man.

"Y-Y-You disobedient familiar!" she growled, more laced with frustration than any real anger, as she cracked her whip.

Louise's threats against the Overlord were all ineffective. He didn't need to eat or drink, so she couldn't deprive him of life's necessity. He didn't sleep in the room, so she couldn't kick him out anywhere already less comfortable than the hallway. He was heavily armored enough to shrug off her physical assaults. And more importantly, he could simply ignore everything she said; like he was doing right now.

To the Overlord it was all a very amusing situation to him. He wondered if Rose was anything like this when she was younger. And, on a more regrettable tone, he wondered that if his child was a girl, then would his daughter have been just like this?

Still, if Louise was anything like his hypothetical daughter, then the Overlord certainly wasn't going to win Father-of-the-Year anytime soon, that's for sure.

"Argh!" she threw her hands in the air, "Do something! Anything! Please! I can't allow myself to look like a fool! You're my familiar, a familiar of a Valliere, don't you have some pride in there?"

Of course he had pride! It's just warrior's pride.

The Overlord's original plan for the event was simply to stand there and look pretty. Pretty. Intimidating. But he gave a mental shrug, maybe he could do a little trick in reward for his little master's energetic persistence. Nothing big or elaborate, and, more importantly, nothing dangerous, just a simple wave of his hands to create a waterfall of fire using Flamethrower.

It would be very similar to Flame's performance, but that was fine, he wasn't aiming to '_wow_' anybody. Though he supposed that the fact that he could use magic might strike some of them dumb, since these people consider magic serious business, overall it shouldn't be a problem.

He placed a hand on top of her head; softly ruffling her hair.

"Hmph," Louise huffed with crossed arms and a pout.

...

Later that day, Princess Henrietta arrived inside her... oh dear, unicorn, I repeat, unicorn-driven carriage and was magnificently welcomed by the school; it was almost like a parade.

It was also honestly the Overlord's first time seeing a unicorn that wasn't driven to crave the blood of mortal creatures, as he pretty much had to exterminate the entire species to extinction in Evernight Forest due to their corruption. It was such a shame really; the Minions were almost as fond of them as they were with 'sheepies,' and that's saying alot.

The Overlord's presence had cleared space for Louise to have a front row viewing and she was absolutely ecstatic when the princess waved her hand in their obvious direction. No doubt the Overlord had caught the royal's sight and intrigue; he's sorta hard to miss being nearly twelve-feet tall and all.

Kirche was standing nearby, and being a transfer student this was her first time seeing the Princess of Tristain with her own eyes, and made a comment about how she was more 'beautiful' than the fair royal.

At the end of the march, the old-looking headmaster, that reminded the Overlord disdainfully of the Evil Wizard, and his female secretary greeted the Princess of Tristain.

Meanwhile, the pink-haired young lady was so happy that she practically forgot that she was mad at the Overlord and her mood remained like that for nearly the rest of the day.

...

And now, later that night, that same princess was trying to get past the Overlord who was standing before Louise's door like an impassable gatekeeper.

Now how did the Overlord tell it was the princess despite the fact that she was cloaked? Simple, she was the strongest mage in terms of raw magical reserves on the campus, barring the headmaster, the secretary, Jean Colbert, and Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere.

"Um... Sir knight? May you let me in?" the princess said politely. Now that she was meeting the Overlord up close and personal, he was damn right scary in the night with his glowing eyes and huge size.

And, well, the Overlord didn't feel any evil intent by the young royal, so he guessed it was okay and moved aside.

The young woman knocked gracefully on the door and Louise answered it with a '_Who are you?_' The princess briskly walked herself in with a '_It's been a long time, Louise Francoise,_' before the pink head stuttered and quickly shut the door close.

I wonder what's going on in there?

Well, let's not peek and let the two have their moment. They're probably just catching up with one another.

As for the Overlord, he stood ready. He was absolutely prepared to go through the door, wall, and everything else in his way, like some kind of fruit juice personification, if he felt even an ounce of hostility.

And he felt none.

The princess left the room shortly after, no more than perhaps ten minutes had past. '_Good luck, Louise Francoise_,' she said before leaving quickly.

Louise herself came out of the room awhile after and cleared her throat and spoke quietly, "That was Princess Henrietta," she stated, "She came to wish me good luck," and she pleaded abit, "Please, Sauthoth... you're my familiar... don't let me look like a fool out there. I-I don't want to disappointed the princess," she said with a downcast face. The pressure was getting to her now.

Wow. Were humans always this difficult to handle? The Overlord had little private interaction with people besides his own wife, so he didn't know. Certainly, he listened to his servants and the complaints of peasants, but they were grown-adults, and he left most of the decision-making to Gnarl or Rose.

The best he could relate his experience with dealing with children were the Minions, and they were more loyal to a fault, 'failure' wasn't in their vocabulary since it was literally 'do-or-die-trying' for those lovable idiots.

A sigh.

Yes, a quiet sigh escaped the Overlord's mouth and even his distressed little master had noticed. She raised her head at him with a mildly curious expression.

He patted her head and she slightly relaxed.

Fine.

The young lady had just recently gotten over her still-incapability at casting magic and she didn't need anything else to compound her demeaning nickname. What she needed was positive reinforce, the Overlord wanted to see her talents grow, and that wouldn't happen if she was constantly crying her heart out and moping about.

Very well, you're in luck, little missy!

So be it! If your familiar is, by extension, a sign of your competency, then he'll prove it! He'll show you just how great of a magician you can become for summoning a physical demi-god!

The Overlord is going to show off some of his fire magic; some very amazing blazing fire magic.

But his magic isn't omnipotent, so let that little bit of courage that you'll gain from his performance be the real magic you need.

...

Tomorrow. Day of the Water. Familiar Exhibition.

Now.

The time is here.

The Familiar Exhibition begins in earnest as the second year students show off the various tricks they taught their familiars. Some students assisted, some didn't. Some went for the routine, some went for the outright bizarre. All were trying to get the attention of their fabulous and popular princess.

The headmaster and the secretary, though truthfully it was the secretary, had arranged it so that the more ordinary familiars went first and the more unique ones went last. And it worked.

There was a beholder that did a mesmerizing dance like a blooming flower.

Then there Guiche posing with his mole familiar. Surprisingly, the playboy still got the cheers of the girls. A simple bow and then a toss of his rose and that was it.

There was a giant spider that spun silk-like and intricate clothing.

Then there was Flame doing a wild dance of erupting fire like a rumbling volcano. Fire that split and disappeared like glittering ashes, flames that moved like the plants underneath water, warmth that gently caressed for but a moment and left a person begging for its comfort. For the finale, Kirche shot a fireball straight up and Flame shot back his own, when the two collided it was like a crackling firework as it popped several times, and at the end the remains floated down like vivid sparkling raindrops that disappeared just as quickly as they came.

There was a large bat doing a extremely swift mid-air catching, throwing, and juggling of some rubber-balls.

Then there was Tabitha riding Sylphid high in the air performing swift and precise aerial maneuvers while shattering the icicles that Tabitha conjured into fine powder. The blue dragon glittered as it moved about and the small ice dusts gently dropped like falling snowflakes and with every glide from the dragon it swirled around the audience like a cool nighttime embrace. For their finale, Sylphid flew up in a piercing form that dragged all the ice dust up into the sky with it, they swirled together and 'bloomed,' looking like bright stars even in the sunlit sky.

There was a basilisk, of the snake variety, that turned flying objects into stone, caught them before they fell onto the stage, and arranging them into a pattern.

After that, it would be the Overlord's turn, and Louise was getting stage fright. She had absolutely no idea what her familiar was planning to do. While his reassuring head-pats were nice, they didn't fill her with nearly enough confidence. The armored man was a still a total mystery to her. She took a peek at her familiar and he looked confident, then again he always looked confident, and she still couldn't calm down.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe ou-

"Next up, we present, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, and her familiar, Sauthoth~!"

Louise froze. Oh her Founder, it was her turn now, and she was going to make a fool of herself. Oh dear all that is heavenly, she can't show her face anymore an-

_Pat._

The Overlord placed a hand on her head and ruffled her strawberry blond hair.

She felt something.

'_Go._'

It was telling her.

She was scared and trembling but smiled despite herself.

One last peek at her familiar. One last deep breath. One first step towards the stage.

...

Louise was standing on the stage, the Overlord besides her, and she didn't know or understand what she was doing there at all. First years, second years, third years, the teachers, the headmaster, and even the princess were all looking right at her; expectant. The guards on the other hand considered the sight of the Overlord to be far more worthy of their attention, particularly because of his larger-than-a-grown-man sword.

Most of the crowd had seen the Overlord before; nearly one-third had seen his duel with Guiche and all had the students and staff have probably heard of it by now. But there was of course one detail nobody forgot: Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere.

She was the summoner and master of the armored giant.

And nobody would ever forget to mention that fact when retelling that one-sided duel; the sheer terror she instilled at the very end when Guiche had surrendered.

So there was curiosity and fear at what kind of performance Louise would command her familiar to do.

Sadly, not even she was sure what the giant man had in mind for the exhibition. Her mind was in a mess; would her familiar embarrass her? Would she embarrass herself? What would the others think? What would the princess think of her? Tension built up.

And then he moved.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

His heavy, yet light, footsteps resounded clearly.

Louise heard it all and she watched it all.

The Overlord had walked behind her and she was facing him with her back turned away from the audience. She didn't know how but she felt like her familiar wanted her attention, and once again she felt impeccably small compared to him.

Slowly his hands came together in a silent clap and as he pulled them away from one another there was fire; a ball of fire. It floated, vividly more inviting than even Flame's fire, and the warmth of its heat was also just as inviting; Louise had almost reached out a hand to touch it.

He pulled his hand further away and the ball of fire reacted. It gave birth to two more balls of fire, one that followed his left hand and another that followed his right hand. Then those gave birth of their own single ball of fire and then the next did so as well.

Seven balls of fire hung in the air but did naught a thing.

It was a strange and truly magical sight.

How? Just how did her familiar get the balls of fire to do this? They were not acting like balls of fire, they were floating on their own and moved gently at the mercy of soft incoming breeze.

One moved her way and she flinched. It touched her and she was about to cry out in pain... but there was none. The fire did not harm her at all. No scalding, no burns, no catching on fire. Nothing at all.

She fiddled with it in her hand and it felt soft and warm, almost like touching water.

Louise didn't understand. Wasn't this fire?

Before she could confirm any more the flames began to fall. They touched the floor and became distinctly real fire. Burning, sizzling, crackle, and smoke, everything about it was the flames she had always known true about fire magic.

The Overlord raised his hand and the seven spouts of fire rised into a spiral and engulfed her.

Yet there was still no pain.

It was a warm embrace, as though she was still asleep in her bed.

And then the flames left her, snaking onto the floor and forming a seven-layered circle on the ground surrounding her and her familiar. Once more, it was reacting like real fire. But then it danced like the ocean waves; each layer moved majestically.

Up.

Up.

Up.

The flames continued to rise up in greater capacity than should have been possible. How far high did they go? Louise did not know, right now, she was looking at her familiar. They were in their own world, protected by the flames, and the wave of heat gave her familiar a strange look: ancient and powerful.

Louise gulped.

Her familiar was strong but she herself was weak. In a way, he was a monument to all her successes and all her failures.

"Ah..." she uttered.

Louise didn't understand it, but there was something else... something calming about her familiar.

A glimpse.

She saw a glimpse of herself trudging through a cold and dark swamp, slowly sinking, as every turn only lead to prickly thorns that cut into her. She had no where to go and no idea where to run to; this was her world, one of self-loathing and self-doubt given form.

Then he simply appeared, standing a far distance away from her. Yet he was there in that world, looking straight at her...

Patience? Was that it?

Her familiar was waiting. Waiting for her.

Louise let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.

And the glimpse ended.

"Sauthoth," she quietly said, "who are you?"

But no answer.

He stood there, past the flames, an absolute proof that she was not a failure, proof that her struggles will one day get her somewhere. He was the goal that she now aspired to reach for.

By now she already knew that he was a man of silence; of action and not words. Thus, he too, probably sought the same of others.

A tiny smile crept up Louise's face. It should have been obvious, yet it was a stunning revelation to her, one that brought her a single small step closer to understanding the mystery that was her familiar.

"One day," she began, "I will become a master worthy of you, Sauthoth."

Louise walked forward, and for once the flames actually singed her to try and stop her advance, she could feel the heat slowly intensify, it was painful and it hurt, but she still continued on. One step, two steps, three steps, four steps, the fire burned away at her little-by-little for every step, but she ignored the fleeting pain, and walked onwards.

She stood directly before him, with her hair and clothes singed, sweating profusely, and suffering light burns. Her black cloak was untouched by the flames; a small sign that it was enchanted to protect the wearer.

She looked straight into his glowing eyes, "Until then, just watch over me. I'll show you, inch-by-inch, failures through failures, that I will not give up," she pointed her wand at the Overlord, "I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, a proud noble and mage, and I will earn that respect of yours! This is not a guess! This is not a promise! This is not a oath! This is nothing less than a absolute fact!"

Suddenly the flames howled and spiraled out in a strange movement until they had reached the edge of the stage and roared out in a blaze of glory. The fire burned strongly at the edges of the platform but slowly it died away to a gentle crackle.

Eventually the mystical fire simply vanished and left behind the only proof of its existence as the blackened ashed scorch marks that covered the stage.

...

Nobody in the crowd knew what to make of what they had seen.

The familiar had used magic. The familiar had used fire magic. The familiar had did _something_ with that fire magic.

It was fire that they knew and yet it was not fire as they had knew it.

It was magic that they knew and yet it was not magic as they had knew it.

Altogether it was strange, mysterious, and beautiful.

The audience understood quite well that the performance was not for them, whatever the intentions were, it was all just for that sole little strawberry blond girl that stood on that stage.

...

Louise stood there proud and relieved, her pink hair gently wafting in the wind, her smile wide and happy. It was a silent exchange with the Overlord.

For all the years of her life, a weight had tightened her breathing and threatened to crush her under the immense pressure. She still carried those heavy burdens on those tiny shoulders of hers but now some of that stress had been lifted.

Determination bubbled and welled within her and she reaffirmed it: '_I will become a master worthy of this familiar._'

This was, Louise felt, one of the greatest days in her life.

And then it was interrupted.

_THOMP! THOMP! THOMP! THOMP! THOMP!_

It was the continuous sound of something big hitting something hard.

People quickly turned to the source of the noise.

A golem.

A giant golem of immeasurable size, nearly as tall as the Central Tower, was in fact punching said tower.

Panic overcame the audience.

Louise was shocked; what was happening?

And the Overlord was annoyed. Someone is going to pay for ruining this feel good moment that he set-up.

He brandished his sword and strolled towards the golem.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Halkeginia's Magic User_ - Halkeginia Magic is fairly simple. Their Mages use their Willpower to shape Mana into that of which they want. For example, if they wanted fire then their willpower would transform mana into real fire, however at this point they can no longer control the element and must release it.

_Overlord's Use of Magic_ - The Overlord has a more complex use of magic: the mana only changes properties. For example, if the Overlord wanted fire, then he would shape mana to look and react like fire but it is still essentially mana at its core, because of that it's still manipulatable to a great degree, but when changed into real fire then the same limits apply. In this case, he creatively imbued the fire-like mana with the Combustion Spell's unique '_doesn't harm allies_' property and tweaked it when he was testing Louise's resolve.

_Fireball_ [Dot Fire] - 'A ball of fire is gathered at a focal point and launched in a straight trajectory.' - _"Fire of the world, power of the flames, gather before me! Fireball!"_

_Icicle Storm_ [Triangle Ice (Wind+Wind+Water)] - 'The advance form of Ice Spear, conjures up multiple ice spears in a single spell.' - _"Frozen world where death awaits! The hard rain of the fallen sky shall strike cold and numb all life! The sharp blizzard that blankets all, Icicle Storm!"_


	6. Nobody Expects The Crumbling Earth I

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Six - Nobody Expects The Crumbling Earth [I]

* * *

And the Familiar Exhibition was just going so well, you know?

The audience was excited and the performances were breathtakingly enchanting.

And then somebody had to go and be a moment killer and ruin it all by bringing their giant golem to punch a tower.

Go home! Nobody wants you here! Bring out that monster gorilla that climbs skyscrapers or the monster reptile that fires nuclear lasers!

_Boo~!_

Ah, whatever, enough of my rambling, let's get this story on the road.

...

Panic overcame the audience and complete and utter pandemonium happened in the blink of an eye.

Students ran away. Teachers ran away, um, I mean, they were helping the students run away and making sure they were safe. Useless cowardly adults? Perish the thought! Perish it, I say!

The servants ran away in total fear. Who could blame them? They were normal people and didn't have the powers to deal with this.

The headmaster quickly escorted the princess. The guards were in full-on battle mode, running straight to the princess and treating her safety as their top priority.

The Overlord was walking, no, jogging, no... He was doing something in between a power-walk and a jog, it was a even pacing stride that he used back in his own realm. It took advantage of his huge size to cover distances that was neither slow nor fast.

He felt his Familiar Runes activate and the extra energy sped him up, but that was fine, he still retained his even pacing.

The Overlord was serious. For the first time since coming into this new world, he was completely serious; the giant golem was an enemy and he would cut it down to rubble.

Nobody said it aloud as they watched the armored demi-god run onward to meet the giant stone earth golem. But what they thought was simple: the Unstoppable Force meets the Immovable Object.

Challenge accepted.

But only one will live up to those expectations.

...

The Earth Golem was huge; the size of several modern Halkeginia buildings stacked together. Even the Overlord was no bigger than its toe.

The Overlord could almost chuckle at that. In the past he had fought a nest of monsters even larger then he was: earth beasts, skull boars, trolls, mother slugs, and rock giants; with no minions to assist him, he defeated all of them by himself.

Certainly, it was just a Dungeon mock-battle, however the danger and actual combat experience was no less real. He honed his skills as a proud warrior, even with his greatest Arcanium Armor, death was always just a fleeting moment away. He trained himself hard until he had mastered every aspect of the Dungeon, fighting over and over and over, again and again and again until he attained perfection.

But now he wore Abyssal Armor, armor even greater than arcanium, and he knew, without trying, that not a thing in the Dungeon could hope defeat him.

And now there was a challenge, a real surmounting challenge has finally presented itself to the Overlord.

What kind of odds did he have? How strong was this opponent compared to the likes of the Forgotten God?

Well, let's find out, shall we?

...

There was a person sitting on the right shoulder of the Earth Golem draped in a concealing black cloak, the mage puppeteer most likely, and they had noticed the Overlord.

'_Out of the way!_' they said and shouted, in a voice that sounded deep and distorted. There was probably a spell or two that was creating this odd echo effect.

The golem raised its feet and it descended downward into a stomped, rattling the earth with sheer tremendous force.

The Overlord had dodged, raised his sword, and cut a toe clean off. The next slash was to remove the big toe and unbalance the golem, but the blade was suddenly stopped several inches in.

He realizes that the golem is magically reinforced to the point where the earth is almost as strong as steel. No, the earth itself, through a process of alchemy, has become steel and the magical reinforcement has made it as strong as arcanium.

He retreats back, knowing that hacking and slashing will get him nowhere.

Earthen pillars erupt from the ground, it was the spell Ground Pound, yet it was far more devastating than Guiche's attempt. Every hit stilled the Overlord for a fraction of a second.

A enveloping shadow fell upon the demi-god as a giant open hand came down. He was pinned and could not avoid it in time with physical strength alone.

The Overlord stood under the shadow of the colossus and he activated his fire spell: Combustion; a aura of immense fire and heat, said to be able to burn even the gods above.

The spell burned the rising earth and melted a hole through the falling palm. But the Earth Golem did not stop because it did not know pain and its master was busy avoiding and returning fire against Tabitha's spikes of ice; the blue head had only arrived just now.

So the gigantic hand went down and the Overlord simply escaped through the gaping hole he had just burnt through it.

The Earth Golem was using a arm and trying to swat Tabitha and Sylphid out of the sky to no avail. Meanwhile, the Overlord was climbing up its other arm when the puppeteer saw him at the edge of their eyes. '_Nuisances!_' could be heard.

Earth pillars rose to toss the demi-god off the giant but he held on tight. His sword imbued with the element of fire easily carved into the golem and he used the sword as leverage to continue his ascent.

The Overlord is not going to fall off; some mountains are meant to be scaled but others are meant to be slain. It'd be such a pain if he had to start over and climb right back up from the bottom.

"FIREBALL!" yelled out a voice far below.

An invisible force flew by, it chipped the shoulder of the golem and almost knocked the puppet master off, and then suddenly a section of the Central Tower exploded.

What? Who was that? Who could...

Louise was standing on the ground with her wand held out. She was postured oddly as she had suffered from a large recoil of her own spell and was trying to get feeling back into her jelly arms.

There was small lull from the Earth Golem as the puppeteer devilishly grinned at the spot of the explosion and then the construct punched that section of the tower. At the same time, the Overlord had pulled out his sword and jumped down and ran towards Louise.

Gods. Slaying. Damn.

He was too use to having small loyal creatures die for him. He totally forgot about keeping Louise away and didn't even notice when she was trailing further behind him. It's great that she's taking the initiative but the Overlord needs to get her away before she gets herself killed.

"Sauthoth, what are you doing?" she grumbled, re-aiming her wand, "Go back out there and distract that golem for me!"

Jeez, Louise. How the hell do you miss something that huge?

Oh, and the golem is plenty distracted. The puppeteer ran inside the open hole for some reason and now the giant pile of rock is just standing still.

The Overlord gave her a hard stare. He was not amused.

"What?" Louise accusingly snapped out, "A noble who leaves behind their familiar has no right to be a master!"

Hey, did you know there's a difference between '_leaving behind_' and '_providing supporting fire from a safe distance_'?

He's seriously worried about you.

The Earth Golem may not be a Rock Giant, but the same principles applies here: They hate everything squishier than they are, and everything is squishier than they are!

Oh wait, I'm the narrator, you can't hear me.

The Overlord stabbed his sword down and pointed for her to retreat to a safer distance. He honestly doesn't know if he can fight effectively and worry about your well-being at the same time.

"No!" she stubbornly shouted whilst stomping her foot, "I am not leaving!"

Dear Louise, you're going to get a very stern stare by the Overlord, I assure you; a very, very stern staring contest, later.

What he lacks in vocal and verbose beat downs, he easily makes up with Evil-Eye-Fu.

The master and familiar pair stare each other down.

At this point, the puppet master has exited the open section of the wall with an item that they weren't carrying with them before; a medium-sized rectangular case, only a tad longer than a full-grown man's leg.

'_So long!_' the puppeteer shouted.

The Earth Golem cradle its master from the icicle storm and hunched over. With unseen agility that it didn't used before, it rushed through and broke a academy wall and then ran further away with frightening speed.

Tabitha and Sylphid had given chase but the puppeteer was already gone. The magical construct disappeared by crumbling away into a pile dirt besides the distant forest.

The thief had escape.

But the Overlord wasn't concerned about that. No... his Overcore was reacting.

There was something within that room...

Something nostalgic. Something magical. Something Evil.

...

Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth.

An infamous mage thief who had nearly every single one of Tristain's nobles cowering in their boots.

A jeweled crown? Gone. A family treasure staff? Looted. Artistically designed rings? Pocketed. Fine well-aged wine? Drunk.

The thief was everywhere; stealing no matter the place or time.

Regardless of the defensive measures taken, Fouquet would turn all the fortified security into dust with their alchemy, hence 'the Crumbling Earth.' Because of that they were speculated to have been atleast a Triangle Class Mage. And now, with the event of Tristain Academy of Magic being raided by a giant golem, the thief was now squarely labeled as a Square Class Mage.

And that fact boggled the minds of every noble in Tristain.

A talented Square Class Mage that made a living by thieving from others? Truly, what has the world come to?

Ah, screw you, you crybabies!

Anyways, that's the basic summary that Louise gave to the Overlord tonight, though he wasn't paying too much attention to her. He was giving the little lady the evil-eye and she basically stuttered out all that information to appease him.

It didn't work and she went to sleep shivering in cold terror.

Afterward, it was now time for the Overlord to have a look see inside the Artifact Vault.

Apparently Fouquet had stolen something called '_the Staff of Destruction_' but besides the ominous name there isn't much detail about it. But, that was the _only_ thing they had bother to steal.

So the vault still had plenty of other treasures, for example, whatever the hell was making the Overcore react.

With all the nighttime explorations the Overlord did the past week, it didn't take long before he had stumbled upon a incredibly sealed room, the treasure vault of the academy, though he thought it was more like a treasury, I mean, why is a school handling weapons of destruction?

Anyway... since he already knew where it was, a floor directly below the headmaster's office, it didn't take more than perhaps twenty minutes of walking to reach it.

There were guards posted at the entrance and inside the vault. As the only other way to get inside, without going through the front, was either to climb in from the outside or fly in, which wasn't particularly difficult with a simple Levitation spell; so the guards were posted to keep any of the more curious students from getting their grubby hands on anything.

Four guards were standing around and talking with each other. The Overlord's echoing footsteps and glowing eyes alerted them, combined with the fact that they were already jittery that meant they were pretty much spook and shrieked like wussies.

"GAH! W-Who goes there?" said one of the guards as the four men pulled out their swords.

They blinked.

"O-Oh, y-you, you're that familiar!" said a short brown hair guard, easily differentiated by his very classy groomed mustache and beard, "What are you doing here?"

It should be mentioned that the guards were quite terrified of the Overlord. Besides his already impressive figure and large sword, he had defeated a young noble and shown himself to be capable of strange magic; in other words, to these magic-less commoners, he was a magic knight and quadrupled the trouble of the average mage.

Oh, but that wasn't all of it. Plenty of people were extremely aware that he had charged toward the giant golem and actually survived the battle completely uninjured.

He was a nothing less than a nightmare to them.

You could say... a knightmare. _Harharhar!_

Anyways, ignoring the bad joke, the Overlord continued on and took one step towards the vault.

"W-What do you think you're doing?" mumbled the youngest blond ponytail hair guard.

Another step.

"W-W-Wait! What's going on here? What are you trying to do?" cried out the mustache guard.

Another step.

"I'm not paid to die," said the oldest grayed hair guard with a pretty well trimmed mustache himself. He lowered his sword, and stepped aside.

The final, rugged blond guard, agreed, "Don't need to tell me twice," and sheathed his blade before moving out of the way.

Another step.

"H-Hey! C-C-Come on, you g-guys!" pleaded the young blond shivering uncontrollably.

The mustache guard closed his eyes and began to pray.

"Money is nice, kid, but it ain't worth your life," coolly said the rugged man.

Another step.

The young guard sniffed and dropped his sword; it clattered onto the stone floor. The rugged guard placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him away.

Another step.

The mustache man opened his eyes and shouted his battle-cry, '_ARG-_' and was promptly wacked in the back of the head by the old man.

"Move it, boy," commanded the aged guard before he starting shoving the other man away.

Man, you're all so melodramatic.

...

The Overlord stood in front of the vault. It was protected by a very complex and powerful seal, either something created by a genius or a group of mages. Well, whatever the case, it doesn't matter anymore. It's going bye-bye.

Flamethrower.

It's a fire spell where the Overlord simply faces his hands in one direction and a stream of continuous flames erupts from them, as long as he has mana, he can keep it up indefinitely.

The seal resisted the flames easily but that was expected. The Overlord used more power to increase the intensity of the flames and they grew hotter and hotter, eventually until it would have enough power to kill even flame-affinity elementals or weakened gods.

Fortunately, the seal broke long before that point and the large vault doors melted. The Overlord quickly lowered the strength of the flames to avoid accidentally destroying more than he needed to.

He walked in and saw that there was debris everywhere; probably a result of the Earth Golem punching through the wall. The room was properly lit by the moonlight, and was a very large room filled with plenty of... stuff.

Oh, and two scared-to-death guards.

The Overlord ignored them; there was a resonance from his Overcore.

Somewhere... over... there...!

That's...! That's...! That's an Overlord Gauntlet!

Right there, on that shelf!

What the hell is it doing here in this world?

And why is it labeled as '_Devil Bringer - It's burning grips tell mes to defeat you!_'?

That... That doesn't sound all too good.

The Overlord pondered.

Was this fragment summoned here long ago? Or did it belong to an actual overlord that existed within this realm? Two questions, so many variables...

Well, whatever, he'll figure it out later.

For now, five finger discount! The rightful privilege of all inquisitive heroes!

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Earth Golem_ - [Triangle Earth] - 'A giant humanoid golem made of the natural earth.' - _"Oh, great mother earth! This humble being before you requests your protection! Send to me the strongest and sturdiest guardian born from your bountiful lands! Here I stand and make my call! Rise, Earth Golem!"_

_Reinforcement _- [Line Earth] - 'Reinforces a natural earth metal.' - _"Strengthen bonds of the physical lands! Become my mighty shield! Reinforcement!"_

_Distorted Sound_ - [Dot Wind] - 'Disruption of the air that causes a changed reaction in frequency of sound.' - _"Sounds that flow as the whispers of the wind! Carry a new tune, Distorted Sound!"_

_Echo Distance_ - [Dot Wind] - 'Creates a echoing effect as though the speaker is shouting.' - _"The flow of the winds! Loud and free! Carry my voice and let them hear, Echo Distance!"_

* * *

**Author Notes**

Thank you to everybody that have read, commented, subscribed, and/or favorited this fanfic.


	7. Nobody Expects The Crumbling Earth II

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Seven - Nobody Expects The Crumbling Earth [II]

* * *

The next day, early in the morning, after everything began to settle down, Louise and Tabitha were summoned to the Headmaster's office to report on what they had witness yesterday. The Overlord, being a familiar, was not counted but was technically called for since he was Louise's familiar, and Kirche decided to tag along.

While Louise and Tabitha are explaining to everybody about yesterday's incident, let's have a look around the room.

It was a big room, obviously, since the Overlord was able to enter as well. Gathered around was the Headmaster, his secretary, several teachers, and, of course, our heroes, folks.

There were two desks, one large and one medium size, the headmaster's and the secretary's, stationed side-by-side at the other end of the room and opposite of the entrance. The large desk had nothing on it and the medium desk had dozens of neatly stacked paper; I think its a no-brainer on who does most of the work here. Behind those two desks was a large window to let light in during the daytime.

There were several bookshelves that were aligned against the walls, that carried both books and odd trinkets. And there was a door on the left side that lead to the Headmaster's bedroom.

Ah, speaking of the Headmaster, his name is Osmond and he's a really old man with long gray hair, mustache, and beard and bushy brows; the typical old wizard look. He wore a long black robe, uses a staff, and enjoys a good smoke. He's also a pervert that uses senility as a cover but that doesn't work against his secretary and he gets beaten for it. And, well, if that doesn't work then he'll use his familiar, a mouse named Motsognir, to take peeks. And then get beaten for it.

He's not very subtle about his perverseness.

And speaking of that familiar, that mouse was skittering about trying to get a good look at Louise's, Tabitha's, and Kirche's undergarments.

The Overlord makes eye-contact with the little animal and makes his intentions clear: '_You look, you die._'

Motsognir scampers away and runs up onto the Headmaster's shoulder. The secretary perks up an eyebrow at noticing the scared mouse.

So, let's also talk about the secretary before moving on. Her name is Longueville and she's a young woman in her early twenties, has green hair tied into a bun and olive eyes, and she wears glasses.

Oh, she also feels like scheming and treachery.

The Overlord's ability to sense '_negative traits_' was something he slowly developed as he absorbed more Evil Energy when he had killed the Seven Heroes. So he's quite confident in being able to tell just how evil and tainted a person is, especially when it comes down to the Seven Deadly Sins; and Longueville was leaning towards Greed.

How unfortunate, that this skill doesn't help him figure out threat levels, which is how the Jester had managed to trap him in the Abyss that day long ago. He knew the Jester hated him, he knew that the Jester would betray him, he just didn't think the Jester was actually strong enough to do it.

In other words: the Overlord can't detect power-levels.

Well, unless it's magic, but that was a trick he learned after he was stuck in the Abyss.

Anyways, with that said, the Overlord has a pretty good idea about why he's sensing those things from that woman.

"Ahem," coughed Old Osmond, "Before we begin, a certain matter was brought to my attention last night."

Oh boy, here we go.

"It seems that, yesterday, an intruder broke directly into the vault late last night."

"What?" blurted out Colbert, "A _single_ person? Broke in _directly_? From the front?"

"Oh, yes, indeed," confirmed the headmaster, "Burned right through the seal, walked right in, and took a artifact off the shelf."

The teachers murmured in the background. All of them knew that the Artifact Vault was protected by magic developed by several Square-Class Earth Mages, thus it was powerful enough that it would take either another group of them or a mythical Pentagon-Class Mage to break through the seal.

As far as the teachers knew, the only reason Fouquet was able to punch through the wall on the other side was because the wall outside wasn't enchanted; they're wrong, of course, because it was.

"Who could have done such a thing?" asked Colbert, one-third excited, one-third curious, and one-third troubled.

"Ah, but the culprit is someone here amongst us," said the old man like a detective and setting the mood.

The teachers started whispering even more.

Louise gulped. She had a feeling, just a teensy feeling, but...

"And the criminal is you!" shouted Osmond, his staff pointed at the Overlord.

Silence settled in and tensions spiked. Longueville's scheming and treachery also went full stop.

"Explain yourself!" he yelled with more energy than the old man seemed normally capable of, "One does not just simply walk into the Artifact Vault!"

The Overlord stood forward and dwarfed the old wizard. They locked eyes and a battle of wills began.

Shortly after, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" erupted Osmond as he fiercely tapped down his staff.

"Old Osmond," said the surprised secretary, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh?" the headmaster uttered as he started looking around the room, "Oh. It seems I was reliving one of my memories from the past," and he coughed his daze away.

'_Ah_,' everybody thought together in their head.

It's easy for people to forget that Headmaster Osmond is a extremely powerful Square-Class Mage with rumors that he's hundreds of years old with many adventuring experiences under his belt. That's pretty much the only explanation anyone has for why this weird, wild, and perverted old man who pretends senility hasn't been kicked off of his position and why he himself isn't ever afraid of retribution from Tristain's Royal Palace.

"And what kind of memory would that be?" she prodded.

"Ohohohoho!" he laughed, "Nothing for you young people to start worrying about!" he scratched his head, "Now where was I?" and saw the armored clad familiar standing before him, "Ah, yes! You! You better start explaining yourself!"

The Overlord showed his own Overlord Gauntlet to the old, but still younger, man and tapped the Overcore.

"Hmm," Osmond hummed as he inspected the jewel, "I see... this is almost exactly the same as the artifact you took," he pulled out his pipe, "Of the same nature perhaps...? Hm?" he mumbled.

"Sauthoth, what is going on here?" Louise asked, "What did you take?"

The Overlord pulled out the '_Devil Bringer_,' it was hidden under the ragged cloth of his belt, and showed it to his little master.

She compared it to the overlord gauntlet he wore, "Ah! That's exactly what you're wearing! But what does it do?"

Fire popped out of his hand and then it dissipated.

"Magic," stated Tabitha, confirming her long unsaid suspicions.

Kirche clapped her hand together, "Oh~! So that's how you use fire magic without a wand or word!"

"Is that so?" hastily jumped in Colbert, excited at the revelation, "Casting spells without a wand or saying a word? That is absolutely amazing! I never thought I lived to see such a thing with my own eyes!" and he continued to ramble on.

"Ahem," coughed Longueville, "I do believe we're getting off topic," she clearly stated and brought all eyes on her, "but, I do have a question of my own," she said somewhat shyly. When nobody stopped her she continued, "You burned through the Artifact Vault's seal with magic... does that artifact you're using increase magical strength or anything like that?"

The answer is no.

A overlord gauntlet does make it easier to cast magic but only because it should be connected to a overlord tower, and that should have its own spells.

It's really more like a training tool than anything else, since the overcore is both the container and catalyst to casting spells, so even magic-less people, like the Overlord was back when he first started, could learn how to con...trol... ma...gic...

_DING!_

The Overlord just got an idea.

Just maybe, maybe, Louise can use this overlord gauntlet, '_Devil Bringer_,' to learn how to control her magic.

Of course, alittle more investigation into it must be done first.

The label was somewhat ominous and he'll probably have to coerce the information of why the gauntlet was inside the vault in the first place from the old wizard later. Also, if there's already a overlord in Halkeginia, and this was their gauntlet, then it would be a real bother if the Overlord has to kill Louise due to the pesky '_there can only be one_' rule, even if he doesn't want the position.

Huh.

Now that the Overlord thought about it, it was extremely likely that his own child would have chosen to become a overlord(ess). How would he have handled that situation? Well now, this was some serious food-for-thought for the demi-god.

The Overlord stored away the '_Devil Bringer_' without a word and moved back behind his pink-haired master.

When Longueville did not get her answer, Old Osmond started talking.

"Well then! Let us return to our original discussion: Fouquet and the Staff of Destruction," he panned his view around the crowd, "Does anybody know or have any idea where the thief is and/or have any plans on catching them?"

...

The following meeting was pretty much a total waste of time.

Nobody had any ideas where Fouquet the Crumbling Earth was nor how to catch them.

When the teachers tried to suggest calling in support from the Royal Army, they were immediately shot down by the headmaster. He was quite adamant that because the Staff of Destruction was stolen from the academy, and during their own watch no less, then it was up to the academy itself to solve its own problem.

When Old Osmond wanted volunteers for a search party, only Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha spoke up; all the rest of the teachers were twiddling thumb.

Except for Jean Colbert, but he was actually turned down by the headmaster because he needed to hold down the fort here in Tristain Academy of Magic, while the old wizard was visiting the capital for a business trip of some kind.

Oh, and before I forget to mention, it turns out that the quiet book-loving Tabitha is a 'chevalier,' a title of honor granted only to those who have proven their great service to their country. In other words: beware the quiet ones.

...

Louise was busily complaining to Kirche and Tabitha. Even though she was taught to respect authority figures, she wasn't particularly filled with confidence when she saw them refuse the call to hunt down the thief. After getting that out of her system, she focused instead on exchanging ideas with the red and blue pair on how to track down Fouquet.

Meanwhile, the Overlord was doing his own thing: cornering Miss Longueville, who was riding a horse, outside the academy.

No guard dared to stop him from leaving the school grounds and they turned a blind-eye to it. If anybody asked, then they saw nothing.

"I-Is there something I can help you with, Sir Familiar?" she said sheepishly. Truth be told, she was suspicious and only acting the weak part.

Now how will the silent and great and mighty Overlord respond?

He shook his head lightly in a manner that was mildly condescending, '_You already know_,' was the kind of feeling one would get.

"Tch," the woman clicked her tongue and lost stopped pretending, "Follow me," she said and kicked her horse to move.

Longueville weighed her options. She could try to escape on horseback, the familiar didn't look to be fast but size can be deceiving, or she could fight back. Neither options were appealing to her. There were too many unknown factors, something, anything, could go wrong; she couldn't take chances, not yet.

It was a two-hour trip and she lead the armored demi-god to a wood cabin that was deep inside a forest near the academy, specifically, it was pretty close to the area where the Earth Golem had collapsed yesterday.

The secretary removed her glasses, let loose her hair, and pulled up the hood to assume her other persona: Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth.

Surprise!

Well, not really. The Overlord already knew as much. Within Tristain Academy of Magic, there are really only four people, other than himself, with outstanding magical reserves and they don't know how to hide or detect it. So to the Overlord, they're walking billboards, especially because the stronger their reserves are then the more unique their energy signature is.

And Miss Longueville's and Fouquet's were exactly the same.

The mage thief went into the cabin and came out shortly after holding a case, the Staff of Destruction presumably.

"Here. This is what you wanted, right?"

Indeed, it was. His little strawberry blond master was far too eager to volunteer for chasing down Fouquet, and her getting herself into danger was the last thing he wanted, atleast, not until he was sure she could take care of herself; for example, maybe after he trains her in magic and maybe alittle physical exercises too. But for now, Louise lacked experienced and that would most likely cost her her life.

He took the item silently.

"Now what?" the thief asked, her wand was out, ready to attack and defend at any moment.

Now what, indeed. The Overlord now had the artifact in his possession and that was that. Back in his own realm, he was both the judge and executioner for any matters that he deemed worthy of his notice and his general rule is to never let an enemy live and always tie-up loose ends.

But there was something bothering him, it was only a minor tingling feeling that he felt.

Fouquet reminded him much about the Jewel the Thief, just like that sinful hero Fouquet spent many resources only to steal one item despite all the other treasures available. And in Jewel's case, she wasn't driven just by her envy, no, she was ordered to steal it... by the Evil Wizard.

It really was a piece of foreshadowing he should have seen. While six of the Seven Heroes were indulging in their sins, the final member was doing something in the background and then suddenly it turned out that he was the mastermind of a rather simple yet complex plot: _Step One_, raise a temporary successor. _Step Two_, have them kill off other heroes. _Step Three_, kill them. All so he could gloat about it at the end.

And that's exactly what the tingling sensation is telling him: there is something more going on.

It was simply too risky for the mage thief to so blatantly use a golem to take such a high-profile artifact. The Overlord knew quite well how strong the seal on the Artifact Vault was; it would have probably taken a day of continuous pounding before that Earth Golem would break through with only physical force and she should have known that too.

She could have simply snatched another valuable item more discreetly somewhere else, but she didn't, and the '_why_' was bothering him. This, he felt, was the calm before the storm.

"What are you waiting for?" queried Fouquet. She couldn't read the Overlord's incredible poker-helmet and even worst, she wasn't used with dealing with the silent types. Her line of work tends to get her involved with more rowdy people.

The Overlord did not move. He needed answers and he wanted them right now. He gave her a hard stare and tapped the case.

The thief took two steps back, wand still pointed out, "Ah? You want me to explain why I took it?" she figured out quickly and shot out accusingly, "What does it matter to you?"

His answer? Pull out his sword and become empowered by the familiar runes; looks like he's gotta do this the hard way.

Fouquet was getting anxious. The familiar was not going to let her go and she really wanted to avoid fighting that monster.

She could try to run but that would fail. He had followed behind her by power-jogging for two-hours and could probably keep going even longer than that. She could have outrun him by a certain distance but wouldn't have the energy to keep going.

She could try to distract him and then run, but she saw how easily his sword, let alone fire magic, had cut through her huge Earth Golem yesterday. And there's no way she could summon that particular giant anymore, the sheer size of the magical construct meant that, besides a large amount of willpower used, it also required dozens of reagents to actually stabilize and power-up. It simply wasn't feasible.

The Overlord tosses the case away and takes a step forward.

'_FUCK!_' went her thoughts and her mouth immediatey spouted out a Ground Pound within a second. Collecting her wits, she immediately trailed behind with three Earth Golem chants, a Transmutation, and finishing it up with a Reinforcement.

The horse that Fouquet rode on was scared and galloped away.

The Overlord didn't even flinch against the pillar of earths and when the three entities of stone and earth came up, he noted that they were only as big as a Rock Giant. He was abit disappointed that she didn't bring out the gigantic golem from yesterday; it would have been a real challenge to fight that construct using little to no magic.

He imbued his Abyssal Sword with the element of fire and used Flamethrower with his left hand right off the bat. These weren't Rock Giants, these were earth and stone golems and there's a big difference between the two.

Rock Giants, while despite being made out of rocks, were by definition alive; they had Lifeforce to prove it. Nor did they have the insane regeneration speed or high pain tolerance that these golems have due to the fact that they exist only because of willpower and mana.

In other words: nothing short of absolute obliteration will keep them down.

Or cut off their willpower/mana supply, but since he wants the woman alive, that's not an option.

The golem on the Overlord's left was getting a Flamethrower on the kneecaps and started leaning, becoming incapable of movement. The construct to his right closed in and got Firebullets to the face for its trouble. And the one in front picked up dirt and rolled into a ball while Fouquet casts another Ground Pound.

Rock throw to the face! The Overlord reeled from that attack and the right golem grabbed him.

Activating a small burst of Combustion, he melts off the entire hand up to the wrist, drops to the floor, and shatters the golem's ankle with the pommel of his sword; it falls onto the ground.

Another Ground Pound, no, Ground Spike, impacts the Overlord and disrupts his movement, holding him still for one-second-a-hit, and he takes two rock throws this time.

A short Combustion, then the demi-god threw his blade towards the mage thief and that caused her to unwittingly dodge and lose her focus. He activated Flaming Fist, empowering his hand with the element of fire, and rushes towards the center golem. He tackles and grabs the shin, crushing and burning through until both hands meet together; the golem loses balance and falls.

The left golem throws a rock and the right golem has reformed its legs, Fouquet casts another Ground Spike. But it's too slow, the Overlord activates a short Combustion again and tosses several Fireballs at the thief's way. She scrambles to avoid getting hit, though if she was thinking calmly she would have noticed that the demi-god was not aiming directly at her at all.

With a short burst of speed, the Overlord picks up his fallen sword, picking up more speed from the rune's power, and then grabs the running thief by her cloak. She gags at the sudden stop and he tosses her to the floor.

Fouquet's back slams hard onto the ground, '_KUH!_' she coughs out.

The Overlord stands above her, stabbing his sword into the ground right next to her ear.

"Finish me," Fouquet growls.

She's been caught. She has lost. And she has given up. Her golems turn into mounds of stone and earth as she cut her willpower supply to them.

But the armored demi-god waits.

"What... do you really what to know why?" she laughed dryly, "Why I _only_ stole the Staff of Destruction? I was hired," she spat out, "I was offered alot of incentives to take it. There, now you know, so kill me already."

But the armored demi-god continues to wait.

"Get on with it!" she demanded with a frown.

He reached out his hand and she closed her eyes waiting for the killing blow.

Then the Overlord flicks her on the forehead.

"Ugh! What the hell?" she yelled wide-eyed and exasperated at him, "What do you think you're doing?"

He shook his head in a mildly condescending way again, '_There's more_,' was the gesture.

She clicked her tongue, "Why do you care?"

Why indeed? Maybe the Overlord has grown soft after hanging around with children for so long.

Though let's not forget that you still haven't told him the whole story.

The armored demi-god is patient and continues to wait until he gets a proper answer.

Fouquet opens her mouth and stops. She thought to lie to the familiar but then thought twice, it probably wouldn't work; he had somehow figured out that she was Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth and the two haven't even personally met until today! If she was going to die then she might as well tell the man her story, after all she had nothing else left to lose at this point.

"It's a long story," she started, "... my real name is Matilda. Matilda de Saxe-Gotha. My father was a Duke who served under the Archduke of Albion and our family took care of the Archduke's illegitimate daughter. Her name was Tiffania and I became fast friends with her. But one day..." she grimaced, "there was a hunt... my family were labeled traitors and everything was destroyed... nearly everybody died."

Quiet silence as she collected her thoughts.

"My father fought to give me time to escape with Tiffania... and we ended up being raised by a kind old woman in a orphanage near a town called Westwood. But we were obviously not the only ones living there, there were plenty of other orphans too. I took up treasure hunting and went traveling to earn money. Eventually the old lady past away and Tiffania was left to raise the remaining orphans herself... Treasure hunting wasn't enough. False leads and pitiful rewards made up most of the results... so I became a thief," she chuckled.

Then her face turned alittle sour.

"Then, while I was escaping after a heist, I was caught by Viscount Jean Jacques Francis de Wardes, Captain of the Tristain's Griffin Knights... and he offered me a deal: Join the growing faction called '_Reconquista_' or die. I would have chose simply to die instead of serving under those Albian nobles who murdered my family and annexed my home, but they had threatened me... if I didn't join, then they would kill everybody at the orphanage..."

She let out a heavy sighed.

"As you can see, I accepted," she said dryly, "Reconquista was a small faction in Albion and it needed power. Destructive power. Anything and everything that sounded like it could be used would be taken, and I was assigned to steal from Tristain. One of the things they wanted was the Staff of Destruction," she gave a wry smile, "Ah, that's what you wanted to know, right? Who and why? Well, it's because Reconquista is waging a war, a war against the Royal Family of Albion, and after that... they plan to attack Tristain... and Germainia, Gallia, and Romalia. They intend to unite all of Halkeginia through force and then fight the Elves for the Holy Land," she laughed, "Can you believe that? Fighting the all-powerful elves?"

Wait, wait, wait.

All-powerful? Elves? Are we even thinking about the same thing here? Because I know even the Overlord can't believe that; elves were weak and lazy jerks.

Ah, nevermind, carry on.

"And that's all of it," she finished. Fouquet didn't understand why, she had always thought those stories about telling people your secrets will relieve stress was just all a bunch of superstitious lies, but now, right now, she was feeling lighter. As though a heavy burden was gone.

"Please kill me," she asked, "Once I'm dead, the blackmail will be useless and the orphanage will be safe," she said with a wry smile.

The Overlord plucked his sword from the ground and sheathed it; calling forth a Fireball in his hand.

She closed her eyes. She wanted a quick death but she supposed she couldn't be picky anymore.

_SWOOSH~! FFFHHH~!_

What the hell is that sound?

Oh, it's just the log cabin burning.

The Overlord picked up Matilda off the ground and carries her bridal style, walking over to the fallen Staff of Destruction case and tossed it to her.

"W-W-What are you doing? I said to kill me, y-you idiot!" she yelped, pounding her arms at his chest. He sped up back towards the academy, "H-Hey!"

Flag set! Matilda route open!

...

Right now, some, oh, four to five hours have past since the time the Overlord cornered Fouquet just outside the academy walls and the time they returned back. And when the Overlord goes missing for more than four hours, then something is obviously up.

"Miss Longueville!" shouted Colbert somewhat in worry, rushing over to the power-jogging demi-god who was carrying a slightly covered-in-dirt and embarrassed young woman.

Besides him, there was also Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, Old Osmond, some guards, and, surprisingly, Guiche who were waiting out in the front gate. Just like like the balding teacher, there was concern on their faces too.

"What happened?" asked Louise to the secretary thief. Good girl, she finally realizes that she's not going to get verbose answers from the Overlord.

"Yes, indeed, Miss Longueville, are you alright?" inquired the headmaster.

"A-Ah, I'm fine," the green head woman answered, still in bridal carry.

"The guards saw you walking off with my familiar," huffed Louise. A guard squeaked at her judging eyes. "What happened?" she repeated.

Her mind kicked itself into high-gear and her mouth started moving. Her quick-thinking made her lie through her teeth out of pure habit.

"Oh, I was planning to do some investigations on Fouquet's trail in the nearby woods, so I had asked your familiar, Miss Valliere, to accompany me because there are some pretty dangerous beasts roaming out there."

Colbert was shocked, "You were attacked?"

"Yes but not by the beasts."

"Fouquet," softly said Tabitha.

They gasped.

"Yes, I was attacked and kidnapped by Fouquet," Longueville answered. Inside she had panicked abit by the blue head's blunt statement. "Your familiar, Sauthoth, gave chase all to way to the thief's hide-out. It was a cabin hidden in the woods not far from here."

"To think that Fouquet was so close..." mumbled Old Osmond.

"What were they doing so close to the academy anyways?" pondered Kirche aloud.

This time it was Guiche who spoke, "Ah, they were probably resting. A Earth Golem that size isn't normal for Square Class Earth Mages. The thief probably had to used reagents to cast the spell but knew that it would still require a large amount of willpower to function."

"Ah, so Fouquet built the cabin beforehand. They must have been planning to steal the Staff of Destruction for awhile now and were waiting for the right opportunity," Colbert stated his very sound theory.

"Sauthoth fought Fouquet and while he was distracted, I took back the Staff of Destruction," Longueville said.

"Staff of Destruction?" the group had practically parroted it altogether. They saw the case that the secretary was cradling in her arms.

Colbert gently took the case from Miss Longueville and opened it, there neatly packed inside was a M72 rocket launcher. Not that anyone in this group knew any better; bunch of technologically inferior people.

"This is indeed the Staff of Destruction," he confirmed with a nod.

"Oh~ So that's it?" said Kirche trying to get a touch in but Colbert promptly closed the case. She huffed slightly.

"Good work, Miss Longueville," praised the headmaster, "And what of Fouquet, what happened to the thief?"

"He was burnt to a crisp," she answered with a fake remembrance of pity, "Nothing but ashes were left of him."

Silence. The group remembes that the Overlord had trespassed into the Artifact Vault with fire magic. Very potent fire magic. It was easy to imagine just how lethal it would be against a human.

"I see, is that true?" Colbert asked; for him, that brought real remembrance of pity and shame of the things he did in his past.

And yes, if you would take a look at the situation that Miss Longueville had just described from certain angle, then yes, it is. That's exactly what happened.

The secretary quietly nodded.

"Well then," Old Osmond said as he pulled out his pipe, "I think it sounds like you deserve a good day's rest. You can even take a week long vacation, Miss Longueville. In fact, I insist that you do."

"Thank you," she quietly said, "I accept your kind offer."

She needed time to think.

She peeked at the Overlord, '_Why didn't you kill me?_' was one such thoughts she needed to go over.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Casting Halkeginia Magic_ - There two requirements before a spell can be properly cast: First is the catalyst/foci. Second is the incantation/words-of-power.

Foci are magically enchanted items that makes it possible for a mage to cast their magic; it processes Willpower and Mana extremely effectively. The item goes through a week-long process called '_Catalyst Cleansing_' in which the item is imbued with a large amount of willpower. The items are generally a wand or staff because those items are both easily produced and their shapes have been determined to channel Willpower and Mana more efficiently.

It is generally impossible for any Halkeginia Mage to cast magic without a foci because they are all too dependent on it; none of their mages have learned how to cast magic without it.

Incantations/Words-of-Power are proven phrases or words that invoke a certain reaction within a mage's willpower when casting a spell and also helps a mage concentrate on casting the correct spell. While Incantations are considered important, they are not absolutely necessary. On the other hand, Words-of-Power (ie, Name of the Spell) are also not needed, but few mages can boast casting spells without it.

When a mage can cast a spell on Words-of-Power alone, then they are considered to have 'mastered' the spell. This is because casting a spell without a saying a word is absolutely unheard of, so they believe mastery of Words-of-Power is the highest level possible.

However, because few ever 'master' the Words-of-Power style, Halkeginia Mage's developed an entirely alternate method called '_Quick Spelling_.' Essentially, the mage must practice reciting a spell until they can chant the incantation within nearly half the time it normally takes.

_Ground Spike_ [Dot Earth] - 'A rapid expansion of several dozens sharp pillars of earth.' - _"Hunger of the blessed earth! Erupt and burst! Sharpen and bare your powerful claws and fangs! Feed your appetite, Ground Spike!"_

* * *

**Author Notes**

Everybody who had been reading since the first chapter might have realized that I have been releasing one-chapter-a-day ever since. Unfortunately, I cannot keep that pacing anymore due to various reasons. I apologize in advance.

Extra Note, I'll be working on another story besides Zero's Noble Overlord for practice. I wonder how that will go?


	8. Aftermath Of The Crumbling Earth

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Eight - Aftermath Of The Crumbling Earth

* * *

It is now the day after the return of the Staff of Destruction and the 'death' of Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth.

And just so you know, dear readers, I sorta stopped keeping track of what the days are Halkeginia's standard. I'm sure that won't bite me in the glorious rear later, nosiree.

But let's rewind time and go back to yesterday.

...

We are now in the narrative past of yesterday, spoken in the present tense of today.

In other words, a flashback.

After saving Miss Longueville, who went to her room to rest, the Overlord dragged his little pink head master, Louise, into the Headmaster's Office, dropped the Devil Bringer onto his desk, and demanded an explanation with a sophisticated tapping of said item.

The actual story was extremely uneventful.

A long time ago Old Osmond was searching Halkeginia for the rumored '_Armor Of Invincibility_,' turns out that it was the '_Armoire of Invincibility_,' and had stumbled upon the overlord gauntlet completely by accident at an auction house.

It was a full set of heavy armor, that obviously resembled the Overlord's, and being a mage he wasn't interested in it at all. Not until his adventuring buddy pointed out that they could probably sell the jewel embedded in the gauntlet for a nice bag of gold did he actually notice the sinister magical object.

Old Osmond placed a bid for the item and didn't have much competition, so he got the entire set fairly cheaply. Later on, he would only keep the gauntlet and then sold off the rest of the armor to some bored nobles that enjoyed making and watching a good play or two.

Afterward he asked the auctioneer about what the story was behind the item. The story? Nobody knows. Or rather, nobody knows what the real story is.

There were quite a few theories on who had originally owned the gauntlet but most of the tales were about the item being cursed. The basic outline was: average joe finds armor, puts it on, gains immense powers, but turns crazy and starts murdering everyone. It was called '_Devil Bringer_' because whosoever wore the gauntlet would command a band of devilish imps and the wearer had a tendency to shout non-sequiturs, the most consistent being '_It's burning grip tells me to defeat you!_'

Many, many, many years later, after his adventuring days and when he became headmaster of Tristain Academy of Magic, Old Osmond threw all the dangerous items that he had collected over the years into the Artifact Vault and left them there to gather dust ever since.

Basic logic and reasoning tells the Overlord that using the Devil Bringer to train Louise might not be such a good idea after all.

Though, he atleast confirmed that he is not the first overlord to be in Halkeginia and it seems that Minions were running about too. But since the stories were connected to aesops, it seems that every overlord before him were utterly incompetent. Well, they probably weren't real overlord candidates anyways and their puny minds were turned into mush.

...

And now let's fast forward alittle bit to almost nighttime of yesterday.

Today was the day of Yule, which, my dear readers, due to some discrepancies in being from another world, is obviously not the same '_Yule_' you might know.

Yule was a national holiday in all of Halkeginia that celebrated the start of a full oncoming spring and per tradition the Tristain of Academy of Magic always held the Ball of Frigg on that day; a fancy name for an ordinary party. It is held on the floor just above the Alviss Dining Hall.

Originally it was canceled due to Fouquet's attack but, now that the incident has been resolved, the party is back on schedule. And, since it was on such short notice, everybody was getting busily getting ready for the ball tonight which was only a few hours away.

Louise was previously all excited about catching the villain Fouquet but then it turned out that her familiar had already done the job a few hours earlier, so now she didn't have anything planned to do for the rest of the day. She mentally shrugged to herself and decided to attend the ball tonight to do... stuff. She really wasn't all too sure herself.

Kirche was going to attend so she could flirt here and there and maybe get some action before the night was over. Not that she couldn't do this on any other normal day but parties gave her a good excuse to wear more revealing clothing, flaunt her assets, and just get plain drunk without being hassled by the staff.

Tabitha would normally take any excuse she could get to simply spend the day reading but there was another thing she loved just as much as reading books and that was eating. The petit girl ate with the elegance of a well-mannered child with the ferocity of a little kitten and the hunger of a endless blackhole. The ball was just a all-you-can-eat-buffet for her.

And, uh, I guess I should mention that Guiche and Montmorency will be there. Apparently by now Guiche was less of a skirt-chaser and was properly dating Montmorency more seriously now. Though his eyes still had a tendency to wander around.

Oh, and Colbert was slightly down in the dumps since Miss Longueville was resting for the day. Awhile back she had agreed to dance with him if he told her some secrets about the Artifact Vault. Guess who gave her the idea to use a gigantic golem?

It was going to be a rather eventfully uneventful event for all who attended.

...

The Overlord stands alone on the field, enjoying the soft moonlight and the gentle nighttime breeze. His gaze is set upon the stars high above in the night sky. Tonight is peaceful but he knows that it will not last.

War is coming.

He has fought many battles, many skirmishes, but he has experienced little war.

Back in his own realm, when he was ruler, there were few nations who would ever willingly try to conquer his domains, and none had ever succeeded. But he knew war.

War was devastating.

As powerful as he was, war could not simply be won by a single entity that was restricted to being at one place at any time. Were it not for Gnarl's and Rose's brilliant tactical minds in overseeing the complete field of battle, the Overlord would have lost his army, have his domains burned to desolation, his people enslaved, and so much more.

But he won. The Overlord always won as long his people could defend themselves on their own, giving him time to storm through any enemy fortress and take down their chain of command.

Truly, he was not a ruler anymore, but he knew of Louise's personality, it was almost frighteningly similar to the Minions that served him as she herself was strongly loyal to the Princess of Tristain, her dedication would no doubt lead her to become involve with the coming war.

And he did not know how a war would affect such a little girl. He was indeed afraid that she would die or perhaps even become a twisted shell of current self, or even worst...

Though it has only been a short time, he has grown quite close to her.

Ah, you've grown soft, indeed, Overlord.

Tranquility; a spell of silence to keep sound from leaving and entering, is cast. Miss Longueville slowly walks up to the Overlord and stands by his side. She too set her gazes upon the glittering nighttime stars.

"I'm planning to remain here as a secretary. I'm sure you wouldn't want me to run away after 'saving' me, would you?" the young woman started, "Old Osmond has given me a raise, it's not alot but it's enough for me to send back to the orphanage. Heh," she chuckled, "All that excitement from stealing and watching the nobles bumble around, I had so much fun being such a infamous thief... I almost forgot why I was stealing in the first place."

A small silence.

"I'm not going to thank you for sparing my life, you chose to do that for your own reasons, nor do I owe you any favors. So, Sir Familiar, I want to make you a deal."

I don't like where this is going.

"Protect me, and in return I'll protect Miss Valliere for you," she said with a smirk, "How does that sound?"

Hot damn, she knows your weak point.

The summoner who freed you from the Abyss. The master which you chose to serve. The little girl who you consider yourself like a godfather or uncle to...

If you had any weaknesses right now, Louise would be it. She's got your weak-point for massive damage, man.

The Overlord wordlessly approves with a nod.

"It'll be nice working with you from now on, partner," Longueville said pushing up her glasses, "So here's some advice: Watch out for the Captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes. He's a Square Class Wind Mage and his Runic Title is '_the Lightning Flash_.' He's similar to you; if you're a knight that fights with magic, a Magic Knight, then he's a mage that fights with swords, a Mage Knight."

She slightly narrows her eyes.

"He's the only person of Reconquista's Tristain Espionage Forces that knows that I was secretary here at the academy and my identity as Fouquet. I was able to write the report about 'Fouquet's death,' and with him being so high up in Tristain's chain-of-command, he should have received the report and assume that I'm dead," and she said the next line with great emphasis and clarity, "So, if you ever get the chance: kill him."

She turns her head to look at the Overlord, "Until he's dead, I'm not safe. But neither are you, Sir Familiar. He'll use anything in his power to either restrain you or kill you, and if not that, then he'll use whatever he can to recruit you... for example, he isn't beyond using Louise to further himself in life."

_Ha!_

If that guy so as much touches Louise then he's a dead ma-

"Viscount Wardes is Louise's fiance."

What.

That must be a joke. Holy. Bloody. Unicorns. It must be.

So, Louise, loyal follower of Princess of Tristain, fiance is Viscount Wardes who is apparently a high-ranking traitor and is also the guy who blackmailed you?

Mother. Devouring. Slug. This isn't coincidence, the Gods just have a twisted sense of humor.

The Overlord is just feeling a wee bit angry. The sort of anger a father gets when their daughter dates a useless guy.

There will be evil-eyes, I tell you, very piercing evil-eyes.

"But like I said, protect me and I'll protect Louise for you," she said with a light smile, "Ah, it's rather nice to talk with a man who listens quietly. It's peaceful," she quietly added.

With Miss Longueville finished with everything she needed to say, the pair simply watch the stars together until the Ball of Frigg hits its midnight chime, signaling the end of the party.

...

Now it is tomorrow, early morning when the sun is still just barely rising over the horizon.

But before we move on with the story, I'll just fill you in on some stuff, like what happened to the Familiar Exhibition after Fouquet's interruption. Or why Old Osmond didn't head into the capital for his business trip. Or why Guiche was with Louise and company.

What? I'm trying to pad the length of this chapter because I thought it was too short?

Why, where do you even get these ideas? That's absurd. I would never do such a thing. Never.

Anyways, using my narrator powers, I took a peek into the past to describe them for you. Be thankful, dear readers.

During the raid, Princess Henrietta was properly evacuated by the guards, and when the threat to the princess was established to be at minimal level, they immediately escorted her back to the palace. Luckily, Louise and the Overlord were the last contestants, so even though the Familiar Exhibition was canceled, she could still technically judge and award the prizes to the top-five.

The Princess would make her decision four days later, in order: _First Place_, Tabitha and Wind Dragon Sylphid. _Second Place_, Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst and Fire Salamander Flame. _Third Place_, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere and 'Magic Knight Sauthoth.' _Fourth _and_ Fifth Place_ were taken up by nonimportant and unnamed students, classify informations, dear readers, but they were the owner of the basilisk and giant spider, respectively. And Headmaster Osmond would announce it two days later after receiving the winning list.

Headmaster Osmond was planning to head into the capital because he had some connections there, such as informants, and he was going to call up some favors from them. He didn't get the chance to because he had heard from Colbert, who heard from Louise, that Miss Longueville had disappeared with the Overlord for several hours now. So he stayed behind and waited for their return, and if they didn't come back in a couple of more hours, then he would send a search party.

As for Guiche, he was looking for the Overlord for some odd reason and found Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha strategizing, so he butted in to butter-up the pink-haired girl for a request of some kind. Louise tried to kick him out several times but he proved himself particularly persistent.

And that's that, so let's move on.

...

_Hmm..._ tomorrow morning... sun barely rising...

Right then, that's where I left off.

It was tomorrow morning and the sun is just barely rising.

The Overlord was wandering outside on the courts, he would usually spend his times strolling the academy grounds until about thirty-minutes before Louise woke up and got out of bed. And at the moment, he still had a few more hours before then.

Still, nothing of note happe-

There is the sound of quick shuffling on the grass accompanied by the sound of '_OOHHH~!_'

The Overlord turns around and se-

OH GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY.

Brown creatures. Brown goblin-like creatures. Brown goblin-like creatures with slit-hole noses, sharp teeth, long pointy ears, dimly glowing yellow eyes, and a stupid looking but adorable face with a sorta high-pitch voices. Brown goblin-like creatures with slit-hole noses, sharp teeth, long pointy wing-like ears, dimly glowing yellow eyes, and a stupid looking but adorable face with a sorta high-pitch low-tone voices, bowing down on their knees and hailing the Overlord.

"MASTAH!"

By Gnarl's disgusting toenails, it's the Brown Minions!

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Magic Knight_ - 6000 years ago during Founder Brimir's time, the world of Halkeginia was very chaotic and very deadly, and the current magic system of the Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers (Pentagon Powers) were in their infancy. Because of that, most humans living in this time were used to fighting up-close and personal with little use of magic. Thus, Magic Knights were a result of this; mages that relied more on their physical abilities and only used some magical spells. In present-day Halkeginia, there are few such fighters left, however they are still fairly popular in story-telling.

_Mage Knight_ - A modern version of the Magic Knight, they rely more on magical spells and use some of their physical abilities but still outclass any normal mage and fighter. Because of the advancement of the Pentagon Powers with such techniques like 'Quick Spelling,' the age of the Magic Knight is slowly coming to an end. While most mages prefer to rely solely on their magic and consider sword-skills beneath them, the abilities of the Mage Knight's such as being able to switch from close-quarters combatants to medium-and-long range support or being able to cast spells while moving even in cluttered environments, have proven themselves effective again and again. All of Halkeginia is slowly recognizing Mage Knights to be a formidable asset.

At present-time, most people are not aware of the differences and usually interchange one with the other. Usually, only those who have strong military backgrounds or scholars would be aware of this detail.

_Tranquility_ [Dot Wind] - 'A spell that keeps sound from entering or leaving within a small bubble area.' - _"The voices within and the voices without! Whispers of the wind that do no carry! Tranquility!"_


	9. All Your Bases Belong To The Overlord

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Nine - All Your Bases Belong To The Overlord

* * *

Brown Minions, the simplest and rowdiest of the four minions that serve an overlord.

They were brown in color, they had glowing yellow eyes, and had the toughest bodies of the minions. They enjoyed the good old fashion past-time of breaking things or utterly smashing things to pieces. They also have a strong fondness for 'sheepies' and salvaging silly things to wear, especially as a hat, no matter how ridiculous or impractical it is; they are utterly adorable maniacs.

There were three Brown Minions groveling before the Overlord's feet and worshiping him.

"MASTAH!" "MASTUR!" "WOO HOO!"

How the heck did they get here?

Oh right, that wall that Fouquet's gigantic Earth Golem ran through is still broken. But there's should be guards statione-

Oh there they are. Standing right behind the browns, utterly trembling in fear. Well, let's ignore them.

The minions get up off the floor, giddy and energetic.

One moves away, "FALLO! FALLO!" it says gesturing with an arm.

And, you know, there's absolutely no reason not to.

The Overlord follows them through the broken wall and into the far forest that was a two hour power-jog away.

Hmm, this place looks familiar.

The happy brown campers lead him to up a cliff and from there you can see trees, trees and more trees, a river, and Fouquet's burned down cabin.

Oh, so that's why.

On the cliff there is a small cave entrance and all three Minions run inside. They return shortly after to gawk at the Overlord in amazement.

"Overlord, you are," hisses a old, weird, but somewhat familiar voice from the inside the cave, "Long we have waited, we have."

_Tap. Tap. Tap.  
_

It is the sound of a cane.

A small hunched figure graces the light with its presence. It's a very old Green Minion draped in a ragged brown cloak covered in moss.

"Evil always finds a way, it does," he sneered.

One second; someone hold the keyboard for me.

Green, short, old, speaks weird...

Are you some kind of exiled master of a forgotten order from somewhere far far away?

...

The Overlord, the three browns, and the old green move deep into the cave. Despite the shallow appearance outside, it was actually pretty big in the inside. On the other hand, there was really nothing inside. Some bones and some furs and that was about it.

Oh, and inactive Waypoint Gate. I'm sure that will be convenient later.

"Minion Master, Snarl, I am," said the old green.

Wait. '_Snarl_'? That's one letter away from '_Gnarl_.' If I wasn't the narrator of the story I'd be asking '_who writes this stuff?_'!

Also, for a Minion Master, you sure live in a sorry dump. I mean, even Gnarl did when the Dark Tower was raided, but atleast he stayed in the Dark Tower. You better have a good reason not being in your tower.

"Serve a true overlord, many of ages have past since," he hisses, which is just his normal voice; I mean, he's a Green, hissing like a snake is sorta what they do.

Oh, also, dear readers, Snarl is speaking with an accent and accentuating the '_s_' but you won't be seeing it in this narrator's text. Nope.

The Overlord lightly drops the Devil Bringer before the minion master. It's time to get some answers.

"Lost it was, hundreds of years it has been. Found by fools and serve we did. This you see, our numbers are. Found you here we did, Sire, coincidence it was. Follow you I ordered, bring you back they have. Now you are here and rise we shall."

He talks funny but you have to admit that Snarl is pretty short and concise.

The Overlord? Becoming the Overlord of Halkeginia? Well, better the one with experience than a new and incompetent idiot.

"Needs doing, evil deeds are," Snarl says, "Infested by orcs, the spire has been. Reclaim the spire, the time is, Lord."

...

Meanwhile, while the Overlord is meeting with Snarl, the strawberry blond girl wakes up from bed.

"Sauthoth?" Louise said when she didn't see her familiar waiting outside the door.

Kirche walks out her own room and notices the confused pink head, "Something the matter, Louise?"

"Zerbst," addressed Louise, "have you seen, Sauthoth?"

"No. Why? Is he gone again?"

"Yes... I think so," mumbled the little girl.

"Forest," quietly stated Tabitha. She had just come out of her room.

Wait, how did she know that? Was she flying around with Sylphid in the morning or something?

"Why would he go there again?" asked Kirche.

"Eh? Forest? Again?" questioned the pink head as she swiveled her head between the two.

"Oh, Tabitha said that Sauthoth went back in the forest. You know, the one where he saved Miss Longueville," the dark-skin beauty clarified.

"Oh," the Valliere let out.

"Goblins," added the book lover.

Kirche quirked an eyebrow. "He was following goblins?"

"W-Why would my familiar do something like that?" sputtered out Louise, "Oh~! When I get my hands on him! I'll...! I'll...!"

It would be about two hours before they met the Overlord again.

...

One hour and forty-seven minutes later, about ten minutes before the Overlord would be found by his temperamental little master, the Overlord was showing a old treasure map to Miss Longueville; they are were at the Headmaster's Office, and Old Osmond was apparently out in the capital to find some Earth Mages to fix the broken wall, not to mention the Artifact Vault too.

Even though she was on vacation, the secretary came into the office every so often to make sure the papers weren't piling up.

The young woman had an eyebrow raised. She questioned why the armored man wanted to go treasure hunting so out of the blue, but more importantly, he was carrying a single... funny looking goblin on his shoulder.

The single brown, with a lazy eye, was pumping his fist in the air going, "YEEEAAAAHHHHH~! WOO HOO~!" like a little kid. No doubt, dozens of people must be wondering just what the hell that thing is because it sure didn't act like the goblins that they knew.

Longueville examined the treasure map, looking at all the key items and locations marked on it.

"You want me to go to the Black Spire with you?"

The Overlord nodded.

"Why?"

He pointed at the brown.

"_That_?" she sounded incredulous, "You're helping _that_?"

Hey now! Don't judge like that, you know what they say: Don't judge a book by its cover, and all that jazz. Once you get to know them then you'll find that they're pretty adorable idiots.

The Overlord stares, '_Partners_,' is the impression you should get.

"Fine," the green head sighed, "I'll meet you outside at the front gate, thirty... no, twenty minutes from now. I'll have everything ready."

...

Once he gets out of the room, the Overlord hears a angry shout from Louise; she found him by interrogating some guards. Again.

"SAUTHOTH! Where have you been?" she said as she cracked her whip. She, of course, was followed behind by Kirche and Tabitha. And Flame.

He gave a mental shrug. Might as well bring her along, the minions aren't exactly a secret of any sorts.

The Overlord took out the Devil Bringer and handed it to Louise.

"Eh?" she squeaked, "I-I can't wear this! It's curse isn't it?"

Technically... yes, it is.

"If you don't want it, I'll take off it off your hands, Louise~" purred Kirche.

"No!" the pink head yelled immediately and clutched the gauntlet closely, "This is... This is..." she honestly didn't know where she was going with this.

"Magic," Tabitha said.

The Overlord nodded with a conjured fire his hand, '_With this, magic is possible_,' was what he was getting at.

"Two mastahs?" inquisitively asked the brown with a finger on his lips, mouth slightly agape.

Louise jolted to look at her familiar. She thought he had spoken but then it turns out it was the goblin riding on his shoulder.

"Gah! What is that?" she pulled out her wand. It looked like a goblin but not exactly like a goblin. Imp?

"Me brown!" it replied giddily.

"Brown?" the red head repeated.

"BBRRROOOOOWWWWNNN~!" it confirmed. It looked so stupid to the girls that they thought it was harmless.

With that, the Overlord started walking. Best not to waste too much time.

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet! Sauthoth!" Louise shouted.

...

The trio chased after the Overlord all the way to the main entrance, where Miss Longueville was already waiting with a small carriage and supplies; it wasn't really a carriage, more like a cart being pulled by horses.

"Oh, hello. Will you three be joining us?" the secretary spoke politely, keeping up her facade around the students.

Today was... today was... uh... I'll get back to you on that.

Familiar Exhibition, Day of the Water... Fouquet's death, Day of the Void... Today is the day after, so it should be Day of the Fire...

Okay, there we are. Today was the Day of the Fire, a school day, but students were free today. The headmaster had allowed them this free day so that they could ever over their headaches, if they drank too much, or sleep-in, if they weren't used to sleeping late, but also because the school was a total mess and most of the teachers were assigned to guard duty too.

"Are you going somewhere?" perked up Kirche, something exciting was happening and she could feel it.

"Treasure hunting," the young woman said pushing up her glasses, "At the Black Spire."

"And you're going with my familiar? Why?" Louise asked curiously.

"It was a request. You could say that we have some business there," she replied. She didn't know 'why' either.

"Sounds like fun," the red head said as she got up and onto the carriage, "Sorry, Flame, you can't come, you'll burn down the ride."

"FUN! FUN!" the brown agreed. The red salamander flickered his tongue and turn his head downward.

"Oh, don't be like that~" she cooed her familiar, "When I get back I'll gave you a nice meal for waiting~"

Flame nodded his head happily before waddling away and Tabitha silently got into the cart. Louise '_hmph_' before getting into the cart next.

"Ah, well then," Longueville said, "let's be off."

...

It was going to be a long trip. A very, very, very long trip; six hours to get to their destination: the Black Spire. Luckily they left rather early in the day.

The Black Spire was located and hidden at the base of a mountain range called '_Fang Jaws Mountains_' that resembled a giant monsters toothy mouth. The spire was as tall as the Central Tower of Tristain Academy of Magic but not quite as wide or big overall. Nobody knew when or how it was built, so it remained a complete and utter mystery even till today.

There were a couple of theories about it, but the reality was that most were of them were completely false and the truth was lost in the ages of history or diluted enough that it was no longer true.

The only thing that has remained true is the fact that a group of vicious orcs made their residence inside the tower. There was originally a nearby town called '_Valois_' but after the many orc invasions, the villagers up and left, so now it's just a ghost town.

All this was explained by Miss Longueville along with the occasional sparse conversation of getting to know each other. After the initial shock of learning that the Overlod was planning to purge the tower of its infestation problems by the noisy Brown, it took awhile for them to calm down. Long lulls of silence weren't unusual considering that two of the six didn't speak much or at all and that the goblin just spoke slurred nonsense to them.

Miss Longueville was driving the cart. Louise, Kirche and Tabitha were waiting around; the blue head obviously had a book to pass the time. Sylphid was flying overhead and the Overlord was power-jogging on the right with a lazy-eyed Brown Minion on his shoulder.

It was an odd sight.

To the Overlord, this information didn't mean much; go in, kill orcs, and reclaim tower, was pretty much what he was going to do and this information didn't help any of that. On the other hand, it did tell him that there was atleast one competent overlord in Halkegenia who managed to create a tower, though apparently his '_successors_' were never quite up to par.

"You're not going to wear the Devil Bringer, Miss Valliere?" asked Longueville.

"No, why should I? It's cursed!" explained Louise.

Again, technically, it is. Though you should be fine because if you have the capacity to summon a physical demi-god then wearing a overlord gauntlet should be perfectly safe.

"Hmm, I don't think your familiar would have handed you a dangerous item if he thought it would harm you."

Louise turned her head to look at the Overlord. As mysterious as he was, she got the impression that he was bit of a softy on her. She fiddled with a the gauntlet for awhile before letting out a big sigh, "All right..." before wearing the gauntlet.

And... and... and...!

It didn't fit her.

Can't be helped, it was designed for a grown man after all. Even the Overlord's own gauntlet had to be custom forged to fit his large size.

"I think I should just hold onto it for now," was all the pink head said.

...

Miss Longueville directed the carriage away from the town of Valois, circling around it instead.

Ghost towns like these that are caused by orcs are almost always death traps for tired and unsuspecting travelers who expected shelter and not to be torn to death savagely.

Orcs in Halkeginia are rather strong; about five times the strength of a grown man, three times the toughness, nearly twice the size, and they're far more agile than they look. They also tend to travel in packs, so normal people, even mages, have no chance against them if they're surrounded.

Eventually, they arrive at the foot of the Black Spire. It was shabby and looked even worst than the Dark Tower when the Overlord had first took over.

The lazy-eye brown hopped off his master's shoulder and fist-pumped the air again, "Fight! Fiiigggghhtt!" it was eager to please.

The Overlord moved forward to the opened gates, the orcs clearly didn't understand the concept of closing doors, and walked right in.

At this point, it'd be really troublesome to explain every floor, so let's just say that after many orcs fell to the Overlord's blade, and the girls learned just how much of a flying sheep did the Overlord care about rampaging orcs: none. There were barely any times that they, as in Kirche and Tabitha, needed to defend the group from a stray orc or two.

And the Brown was having a hell of a time picking up stuff left and right and adorning himself with random objects, and that disturbed the girls.

Did I mention that orcs were baby-eaters? No? Well they are. And they enjoy hanging the skulls of children around their neck. And it was not funny to ladies to know that the Overlord had to stop the minion from using a skull as a helmet. It was even less funny when the thing got a hold of a knife from a dead traveler because the brown was absolutely ecstatic about holding a weapon for apparently the first time.

I'm sure the orcs were absolutely thrilled when the munchkin was stabbing their legs. Or their face.

To the Overlord, it was a nostalgic sight; good ol' brown behavior. Especially when he was collecting all those nice glowing Brown Lifeforce, not that he really needed them, he still had a rather large surplus stored inside his Overcore. To say the least, amassing an army of Minions was never a problem.

At the very top floor, at the Throne Room, there stood only four orcs left. They were adorned richly in leathers, skulls, and tattoos and were no doubt the leaders of this tribe. They lifted up their giant axes and garbled out a loud deafening roar at the sight of their invaders and charged.

Not a single gods slaying damn was given by the Overlord.

The Overlord imbued the Abyssal Sword with fire and shot fireballs at the green-skins, the leathers of the orcs caught on fire quickly and they burned, but their rage did not let them stop, they continued running forward to cut down the opponent before them.

And letting the power of Familiar Runes flow for the first time, he leapt with unseen force and strength. In a blur the Overlord tackled the orcs and pushed them back. And like a phantom his arm swung his blade and then it was over within seconds.

They were already dead.

The orcs continued to roar as they fell piece by piece as the fires roasted them. But they didn't even realize that until their minds simply blanked out.

"A-Amazing~!" Kirche shouted in admiration. The Brown was in equal agreement with, "WOO HOO! BURN! BURN! YEEAAAHHHH!"

Miss Longueville pushed up her glasses. She realized that the Overlord was going easy on her the last time they fought. She laughed maniacally inside her head; if Wardes and the familiar fought in a serious life-and-death battle then it was obvious who would win.

Tabitha was silently analyzing and reevaluating the armored man's capabilities.

Louise, well, she gulped; first Fouquet and now this. The path of becoming a master worthy of him just got a whole lot more difficult.

And for the Overlord, he was thinking that it was time to get this place properly up and running. War is coming and he is now one step closer to being ready for it.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Elemental Affinity_ - Halkeginia Mages are born to have a natural affinity towards one of the Pentagon Powers; for example, a Earth Mage is aligned with Earth and a Fire Mage is aligned with Fire. This does not mean that they can only use their align-element, they are still able to use the other elements but only to a lesser degree.

Elements are: Void, Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water. By combining the Primary Elements, it's possible to create Secondary Elements. However, Void cannot be combined with any of the other elements.

Fire+Earth=Magma. Fire+Wind=Lightning. Fire+Water=Steam.  
Earth+Wind=Sand. Earth+Water=Mud.  
Wind+Water=Ice.

It's not possible to stack Secondary Elements with one another nor is it possible to stack more than two different Primary Elements together.

* * *

**Author Notes**

I have no idea what 'Valois' is but apparently it's French.

Also, thank you to everybody who sent in reviews, as I do enjoy reading them. I know there have been several questions posted, but I don't want to answer them here in the Author Notes, so if anybody really wants to know, please Private Message me, I'll be glad to answer them to the best of ability. Thank you for understanding.


	10. You Can't Handle The Truth Louise

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Ten - You Can't Handle The Truth Louise

* * *

After the Overlord's one-sided slaughter of all the orcs that inhabited the Black Spire, our heroes, dear readers, were lead downwards by the Overlord and they had to trudge through all the dead bodies. Again.

They reach a odd looking area. The place seems to be made of completely natural stones, unlike the upper-floors with the intricately carved but worn down architecture. There is a giant boulder sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by four circular platforms made out of white-stone rocks.

There were also four more smaller 'rooms' that were directly connected to this area. Inside one of the rooms, there is a strange damp thing that looks like a worm wrapped all around itself in the form of a pine-cone, it pulsed with life and looked generally disgusting.

"What is this place?" Louise said, her eyes were darting here and there.

The atmosphere of the room was considerably odd compared to the rest of the tower. The upper-floors were like forsaken ruins but down here in this 'basement,' it too was ruins, but in a different sense, ruins of something more... 'ancient.'

"Spawning Pit...!" the lazy-eyed brown said with reverence and awe. This was, by all intents and purposes, his home and birthplace, one that he hasn't been to in a very long time.

Kirche looks at the room inquisitively, "Is the treasure you're looking for down here? Then why go through all the trouble of killing the orcs?"

The Overlord ignores the comment, and I will too, and walks forward to the giant boulder that sat in the middle of the area.

This was the Tow-, ah, 'Spire Heart,' the source of power for the Black Spire. It has remained dormant, protecting the little energy left that sustained it, waiting for an overlord to feed it power and take command.

And now the wait is over.

Hell, it's about time.

The Overlord places a hand on the large orb and feeds it mana and evil energy. Energy flowed, cracks and lights appear, the boulder began to float.

"W-What's going on?" said Louise.

The stone rose into the air and exploded.

And thus the Spire Heart floated in the air with all its magical glory; the stone that once encrusted it now orbited around it in a circle. One of the four circular white-stone platforms opens up like a miniature volcano and emits a golden glow.

The Overlord raises his hand and spills Brown Lifeforce into the Brown Minion Gate.

_SPLURG SPLOOG SPLIG SPLURG SPLUAH SPLIG SPLUIG SPLORG_

A strange gooey sound comes from the stone formation for every single Brown that pops into existence.

"YAHOO!" "WOO HOO!" "YEAH!"

The brown critters shouted various other things of excitement as they rush to gaze upon the visage of the Overlord.

Fifty Minions; there were fifty brown minions, the same number the Overlord was used to commanding back in his own realm.

Originally this was the maximum number he could control despite having over nine-thousand lifeforces of each Lifeforce-type from farming in his Dungeon against beetles.

A majority of Minions were wild and stupid, there was simply no doubt about that, and few could ever probably follow instructions no matter how easy. The Overlord had required Minion Pillars to control his horde and to able to direct them with utmost efficiency; it was what allowed him to command and organize the Minions with nothing but a single thought.

He would need to test what his upper-limits were now, now that he was a physical demi-god, but fifty was enough for what he needed them to do.

The lazy-eye brown stood at the front, the most decorated veteran amongst his freshly born and barely clothed siblings. He gave a salute, "MASTAR!"

The Overlord raised his hand and clenched his fist. The order given: clean up the dead orcs. Don't wear children skulls.

And the small army of rascals burst into energy. They ran up the stairs to procure themselves the fallen trophies of the green-skinned pigs and then clean up the filth from their tower.

Kirche muttered under her breath, "What... in Brimir's Beard just happened?"

...

Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Miss Longueville followed the Overlord to the Throne Room.

On the way back up, they noticed the minions gleefully cleaning up the mess. They had somehow managed to procure brooms, mops, buckets, ragged cloths, and whatever else to sweep dust and wipe blood. If they didn't have any cleaning instruments then they were you using their tongues. And for the large orc bodies, it took about seven minions to carry one, though the girls didn't have any idea where they were carrying the corpses off to.

_PSST_. Here's a hint: a hard day's of work deserves a hearty meal.

The Throne Room was still graced by the presence of dead orcs because the minions were working from the bottom then up. It would be about another three hours before they got here, so the Overlord did some cleaning of his own by burning them all away.

Kirche spoke out loud a surprisingly morbid question, "You've got such amazing fire magic, Sauthoth, did you burn Fouquet when he was alive or dead?"

"ZERBST!" Louise cried in slight disgust. She has never actually seen someone alive being burned to death but she could easily imagine how excruciatingly painful it must be.

"Ahem," Longueville coughed slightly uncomfortably, "Alive. I would like not to remember it, Miss Zerbst."

"Oh, right, you were there. Sorry, Miss Longueville," Kirche apologized for her absentminded question.

The Overlord looked around the room. No Health or Mana Pillars, no Minion Pillars, and definitely no Spell Stones either. It was a completely bare to the bones tower. And that's not even mentioning the fact that he hasn't checked out the rest of the tower either. He's still not sure if there are any rooms made for a mistress or mistresses, though in this case it would be for guests since this would be a secret base of sorts, or a Forgery or a Dungeon.

_SHEEH_ followed by _tap_, _tap_, _tap_.

Snarl, the Green Minion Master, appeared from the well-portal that sat at on the other end of the Throne Room. The two Browns that were accompanying him immediately stood at attention before running downstairs for one reason or another.

I told you that Waypoint Gate would have been convenient later.

"Clear the tower you have, lord. Acquire mistresses as well, I see," complimented Snarl. It's always a poignant fact not to insult an overlord's taste in woman, even if two of them looked like children.

"Who are you?" blurted out Louise, she's had enough Founder damnit surprises today, and was incredulous, "And who are you calling a 'mistress'? I am nobody's mistress and certainly not to my familiar!"

"Familiar?" the old minion quizzically stared at the pink hair child and his overlord.

And then he laughed. A very creepy laugh. A very loud and creepy laugh. A very loud, creepy, and delighted laugh.

_SHIHEHEHEHIHEIHEIHEIHEI_

Really, text doesn't describe just how vocally creepy it sounds.

"Servant, the overlord? Master, you?" he laughed some more, "What you say, you know not! Evil Master, he is! Minions command, he does! Ruler of Black Spire, he is! Child, you are! Overlord, he is!"

Louise lost her temper, "Y-Y-You... You! Evil master? Minion command? Ruler of the Black Spire? What are you saying you...! You...! You disgusting goblin thing, whatever you are!" and pointed her wand at Snarl.

The Overlord walked over and picked up the pink head by her collar. Getting mad at every little thing was such a bad habit of hers.

"Let me go, Sauthoth! Let go me go!" she squirmed and dropped the Devil Bringer.

Snarl quirked a brow, "Overlord Gauntlet, you have. Why is that?" and he looked at his armored master. He grew wide-eyed, "Serious, you cannot be, Milord! But a child, she is!"

The won't do, Snarl, that won't do at all. Nobody refuses the Overlord.

The Overlord gives a piercing glare causing the elder minion to take a step back.

"Child master, she is. Evil, she is not," Snarl stated clearly, "Reconsider, Sire."

Stop it, Snarl. You're no Gnarl, you're not getting away with disobeying the Overlord like this.

The demi-god shoots a fireball next to Snarl, a first and only warning he's going to get.

"V-Very well, Milord. Master, she will become..." the old minion nearly grimaced, "Prepare it shall be, a gauntlet of her size..."

The first decent overlord in ages and you get delegated to babysitting duty. Serves you right, you cheap knock-off!

...

All five members of the group were leaning on the wall.

Well, the Overlord was standing next to a wall anyways and stood to the left of Louise. Tabitha was on the opposite side reading a book, to her left was Kirche and to her right was Longueville.

"Sauthoth," Louise said weakly, "Is what that thing said true? You're this... '_Overlord_' thing? You're... evil?"

Technically he's evil. But that's the thing about technicalities, they're very borderline.

He nodded.

"I can believe that," Longueville said dryly, before realizing she had let her mask slipped abit and then she cleared her throat, "I mean, your familiar certainly looks the part, Miss Valliere."

"He can't be a bad person if he saved you, Miss Longueville," Kirche instantly pointed out, "He also helped that maid from Guiche. And," she said looking at the pink head, "like Miss Longueville said on the ride here, I don't think he would do anything to hurt you, Louise."

The strawberry blond fidgeted, "Eh, ah, well..." she took a upward peek at her familiar who wasn't looking at anything in peculiar. She was slightly offended and pouted and then crossed her arms, "S-Sauthoth!" and this time he turned to look at her, "I-I said it before! I'll become a master worthy of you! If you're evil, then I'll just have to make you a good guy then! Together, Sauthoth, we'll become heroes of justice!" she declared.

Kirche giggled and Longueville lightly smirked.

It didn't show on her face but Tabitha was somewhat surprised at how similar the situation was running parallel to the Tower Mythos. A nameless hero, Louise, climbs the tower, the Black Spire, and proclaims that they'll be heroes of justice with Sauthoth, Sauthoth; it was particularly endearing enough to her that she let a small 'A_h..._' since the Tower Mythos was one of her more favorite fantasy stories.

Soon a eager Brown came running into the Throne Room with a much smaller Devil Bringer. He ran up to Louise and handed her the new artifact while kneeling, '_Mastah, for you!_' it said.

"Eh? For m-me?" Louise stumbled. She still wasn't used to seeing these little creatures but took the gauntlet anyway. She could tell that this one was custom made to fit her smaller size but the jewel was still the same one as before.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Put it on, Louise," urged Kirche.

"J-Just give me a minute!" the pink head yelled and fumbled with the steel item. She took some deep breaths, '_become a hero, become a hero, become a hero... mustn't run away, mustn't run away, mustn't run away..._' and gulped.

She put on the gauntlet, Devil Bringer, and slipped in perfectly on her left hand. It fit, well, like a glove. And it was surprisingly light too, as though it really was just a thin-layer of garment and not a steel plate of armor.

"Feel any different?" Longueville and Kirche asked at the same time.

Louise frowned abit, "No... nothing."

"Spell," Tabitha quietly stated.

"Ah, try casting a spell," the red head translated.

Louise pulled out her wand and chanted a simple spell, Candle Light, her incantations were correct, willpower flowed without hindrance into her wand, mana was shaping correctly, her emotions were only slightly fluctuating.

Everything was right, yet the result was an explosion.

Disappointment seeps onto Louise's, Kirche's, Tabitha's, and Longueville's faces.

But not the Overlord, no, he, for the first time, caught a true glimpse of his little master's magic. He knew of the little strawberry blond's raw essence and the signature feel of her magic, but he did not know just what exactly was her magic in the end.

But now he understood.

He felt the energy of the Devil Bringer as it helped channeled Louise's willpower and change the mana: and it was empty. It was not just the emptiness, no, it was also her soul-bounded synchronization to it; just like a Fire Elemental can only use fire, Louise's ability was naturally only within the confines of that emptiness.

Then the answer was simple: she has been using the wrong element all this time.

Void.

The Overlord recalls the day where Louise failed to transmute some stones. He recalls the five elements that the Halkeginia Mages use: Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Void.

He did not know how to teach his little master this mysterious element but he can atleast help get a feel for using it. Until then, the first step in his plan is to make the young lady aware of her element and then go from there.

...

Five Brown Minions were standing in the formation of a pentagon.

Going clockwise: the first top-most brown was draped in a dirty black cloth. The second brown was draped in red. The third was the lazy-eyed brown in all his orc-stolen glory. The fourth was, morbidly, wearing the flayed skin of a orc. And the fifth was carrying a bucket of a slightly dirty but still blue enough water.

"What is this suppose be?" Longueville quirked an eyebrow. Certain answers about the the young Valliere's familiar had been answered but there were still many more mysteries about him that she didn't know. She still wasn't quite sure what went through his head, but her gut feeling, which she rarely trusted, was telling her to pay attention to anything her new partner had to... '_explain_.'

Louise was downcast but she was still curious enough at whatever her familiar was planning to atleast pay attention to it. Silent as he was, his explanations have so far tend to be very '_colorful_' in performance.

The red-cloth spoke up first, "RED!" then the lazy-eyed, "BROWN!" then the butcher, "GREEN!" then the bucket-holder, "BLUE!" and finally the black-cloth spoke, "BLACK?" for playing the odd-role out.

A flat '_what_' was delivered by the pink head, red head, and green head.

The book lover figured it out though, "Pentagon."

"Ah, they are standing in the shape of a pentagon," noted Kirche.

Longueville rubbed her chin, "As in... Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers," she theorized with eyes closed and head titled upward.

Tabitha nodded.

"So, what's that suppose to mean," Louise turned to her armored familiar, "Sauthoth?"

And just as she said the last word, the minions scattered. The red-cloth moved to Kirche, the butcher and bucket-holder went to Tabitha, the lazy-eyed went to Longueville, and the black-cloth went to Louise. They shouted out their colors again with much more energy.

"Oh~! Red for Fire~! Just like I am~!" Kirche purred.

"Wind. Water," Tabitha acknowledged. While she was considered a Wind Mage, she primarily used Ice-type Spells and therefore used Wind and Water according to Halkeginia's magic system.

Longueville coughed, "E-Earth," was all she said. As a secretary to a Academy of Magic, it would be expected that she herself was a noble, a mage, but her element being proclaimed still put her on a spot that she didn't like.

Louise just curiously stared at the black-cloth minion before her brain jolted awake. The other three realized it too.

"Huh, wait a second, the black one moved to Louise..." murmured Kirche.

"And the black's element would be..." continued Longueville.

"Void," finished Tabitha.

The pink head fidgeted in place with a stutter, "V-V-V-V-Void?" she looks fervently around and then turns to the Overlord, "A-Are you telling me that m-m-my element is V-V-Void?"

He nods.

And then, as eloquently as I can say it: Louise freaks the the sinful seven out. She starts trembling, her mouth starts opening and closing, her arms make strange gestures, her breathing is heavy, and so much more.

"EXPLOSIONS GO 'KABLOOM'! BLACK VOID!" enthusiastically says the black-cloaked minion, "YES~!"

Louise promptly faints.

"Mastah goes 'kablooey'?"

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Willpower_ - Halkeginia Mages use something called Willpower to shape mana to use their magic; it is naturally generated within their body and the rate of recovery is different between mages. Halkeginia Mages do not understand much about Willpower, in general they are only aware that it recovers when they sleep and overcasting magic has negative side-effects called 'Magic Burn Out.'

Willpower is not an entirely accurate name, as using magic is not necessarily dependant on 'willpower.' It should be more correct to say that Mages have a special organ in their body that produces Willpower and a entirely different circulatory system for it to flow. Overtaxing those systems is what causes 'Magic Burn Out.'

There are various factors to Willpower Recovery and Willpower Limits but will not be discussed here.

_Magic Burn Out_ - 'Magic Burn Out' is more commonly and technically known as '_Willpower Depletion_,' and occurs when a mage severely uses up a large amount of their willpower; there have only been a few recorded instances of death. A mage will become heavily exhausted and will take an unspecified amount of time to recover; they will be unable to cast magic in the meantime. Sometimes a mage will suffer from minor aftereffects such as a fever or headache.

_Candle Light_ [Dot Fire] - 'A spell typically used to light-up dark areas, when a torch, lantern, or such is not available. A miniscule amount of willpower is constantly drained while it is active.' - _"The smallest of sparks that burn! Candle Light!"_

* * *

**Author Notes**

I've been reading some The Familiar of Zero fictions such as: '**The Hero of the Void**' by _kbzas_, '**The Left ARM of God**' by _RealmOfEmptiness_, and '**Emperor of Zero**' by _Nietzchian_.

Also, the Summer weather is killing me.


	11. Would You Kindly Obey My Request

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Eleven - Would You Kindly Obey My Request

* * *

Louise was sleeping soundly in bed. Despite her massive overload, she was having a pleasant dream about a world full of amazing and delicious donuts along with a girl with long golden hair and golden eyes wearing a long white dress; it was paradise.

If there were any little girl lovers in the audience then they would have told you, my dear readers, that they were now deliriously stricken with diabetes from the cute murmurs Louise made in her sleep.

The little strawberry blond girl gently wakes up as she shifts under her blanket. '_Mmmunyaa~_' she sounds as she gives a mewling yawn with a stretch.

She taps her mechanical clock to stop the alarm and gets out of bed in a slight daze. She was mid-dress of unbuttoning her white blouse when her mind finally clicked and jolted awake.

She's wearing her uniform and not her nightgown? How did she get back in her room? Wasn't she at the Black Spire? How long was she out? Or was it all just a dream?

Then she noticed a glint of the morning light refract off something on her desk; it was the Devil Bringer in its new compact size, polished to a very sleek shine and sitting on a plush cushion.

"Eh, so it wasn't a dream?" she said to herself.

What wasn't a dream? Her familiar killing orcs, summoning goblins, being an 'overlord,' and... and...

Immediately her mind kick-started itself once again.

Her familiar '_told_' her that her element was Void; the lost element that hasn't been seen since 6000 years, the sacred element that was used by Founder Brimir himself.

"V-V-V-V-Void...!" she uttered under her breath.

It was unthinkable! How could her element be Void? It was the most scared and holy of the Pentagon Powers; so much so that anybody who could be found using it would probably be declared a Saint and successor to Brimir's Will of retaking the Holy Land! She just couldn't believe it!

Yet she had a hard time doubting her familiar. Perhaps it was just the bonds between a Master and a Familiar, but her subconscious was telling her that it was absolutely true, no matter how insane it sounded, she was a Void Mage.

Louise took deep breaths and calmed herself down. She finished changing into a new uniform and put on the gauntlet and, the same as yesterday, she didn't feel any different.

She sighed. She had a gauntlet that _might_ allow her to use magic, and said magic _might_ be the lost element of Void. These dangling bits of hopes were rather depressing.

...

The Overlord waited outside the hallway for his little master.

The Minions were cleaning up the Black Spire and to finish construction of it afterward. The previous owner had created the spire and the general atmosphere but didn't get around to completing some of the other rooms, such as the mistress' room which was now being renovated as several guest rooms.

Snarl was tasked with finding the Tower Objects and where the rest of the other Minion-types were. The more immediate list though was for the Minion Master to figure out the population of the surrounding orcs, and whatever else, and then think of a way to get rid of them. The abandoned town of Valois was to be secured and used as a secondary base after the Black Spire.

And Miss Longueville, aka Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth, aka Matilda de Sax-Gotha, was researching into Void magic.

As for Kirche and Tabitha, they were made to keep everything they knew as a secret. In exchange, they could visit the Black Spire whenever they want and do... whatever.

You see, a powerful overlord can create special 'gates' that allow him to warp from one domain to another or simply back to his evil abode. These powerful gates are called '_Tower Gates_,' while the lesser ones are known as '_Waypoint Gates_.' And the Overlord has created a Tower Gate in the same area that he was first summoned, it was only about fourty minutes away from the academy with walking but far enough that nobody should notice its existence.

In other words, the original twelve hour trip from both leaving Tristain Academy of Magic to the Black Spire and then back, was drastically reduced to being only somewhat below an hour-and-a-half.

Everything was coming along rather nicely.

Eventually his little master got out of her room and greeted Kirche and Tabitha. It didn't take much for the red head to convince Louise not to go around and babble about her element just yet, since the pink head still held her doubts.

Afterward the trio went down to the dining hall for breakfast.

So the Overlord was waiting outside was on the field with the rest of the familiars and everything was as usual. Some familiars played, some ate, some slept. Some students ate breakfast, some skipped, others were chatting outside. Servants ran to and fro serving food to the familiars and masters.

Siesta, and in case anybody forgot she was the maid, was one-sidedly chatting it up as always. At one point she mentioned that she was going to get a vacation soon and was planning to head back to see her family at some village called '_Tarbes_.'

And then suddenly Guiche de Gramont pops up out of the blue.

Siesta was unhappy because she still didn't like mages, and therefore nobles as well, the exception of course being the Overlord because he didn't act like those stereotypical snotty nobles and used his sword more than his magic.

"Ah, Sir Familiar! Knight Sauthoth!" he hailed radiantly confident, "I was hoping to have a chance to talk with you! Would you mind hearing my request?"

I wonder what that idiot is what up to...

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, "I, Guiche de Gramont, third son of the House of Gramont, would like to hereby humbly request to have the honor of being taught under your tutelage in the art of battle, Knight Sauthoth!" he said with a light bow.

Woah, hey, wait a second! Where did that egotistic jerk of a personality go? Who are you and what have you done with the blond fop?

"Ever since our duel," he began, "I have dedicated my heart solely to my lovely Montmorency~! But alas, I am weak! I am but merely a Dot-Class Earth Mage and such a level of strength pains me! I wish to become more able to protect my dear Montmorency~!"

Uh, is she, like, in danger or something?

"And thus I seek you, Knight Sauthoth, to teach me how to become a great warrior! To impress her with my new found strength!"

Oh, okay, good. You're still vain.

And the Overlord thought about it and then mentally shrugged. Sure, why the hell not? He was planning to treat Guiche like a punching bag and if 'training' gave him a excuse to do that and kill some time then, yes, he could go along with it.

The Overlord gave a nod and the young noble perked right up with a smile.

"Then let us start later at the Vestri Court after class!"

...

Class started but nothing of importance happened in the beginning.

Some students saw Louise's gauntlets but chose not to question her about it. They still remembered the duel with Guiche and avoided her.

Oh, and there was this teacher who was being a jerk and gloating about Wind being the strongest element and dared Kirche to attack him with Fire. Colbert suddenly walked into the room, wearing a blond wig, and declared classes to be canceled because there was a chance that Princess Henrietta would be visiting later that day.

And that was that.

...

Once again, two people, the Overlord and Guiche, faced each other at the Vestri Court. And, once again, there was a rather large crowd that came to watch because they had seen the blond's earlier dramatic, were curious, or just plain bored.

For a change of pace, Siesta was here because in the depths of her mind she wanted to see the young noble crying on his knees again. She suppressed a devilish grin.

Montmorency was also here too to watch the spectacle, standing next to a basket full of artificial rose wands. She was here mostly because Guiche ask her to be here to watch his 'manliness' and also because she was also a proficient healer, despite being only a Line-Class Water Mage, in case he got hurt.

Naturally, our trio, Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha, were here to watch wondering about what was going on in that head of the apparently-used-to-be-a-skirt-chaser's mind. They had tables and chairs set-up and had front-row seats to the coming show.

"Let us begin!" Guiche shouted and the training began.

It was simple, for the most part, Guiche would be on the offensive, developing his techniques, and then get his arse handed to him by having his own golem thrown at him. Then they switched positions, Guiche would go on the defensive and still get his precious bottom handed to him.

The Overlord refrained from using his Abyssal Sword and any of his magic. It was a insightful practice for the demi-god because this was his first time fighting bare-handed. '_Bare-handed_' in the sense that he wore Abyssal Gauntlets that could be equated to the '_fist of an angry god_' if he ever got real serious about personally beating something or someone up.

He mostly took the fight slowly because if he ran straight at the young lad then it would like being hit by a speeding wind dragon in this world's standard. And the entire point of the lesson was to give Guiche pressure for him to better himself in commanding his golems and judging the best time to use his magic in a battle.

Which is to say, Guiche gets hurt if he doesn't do something right. He has to learn if he doesn't want to get injured and those injuries are pretty bad; being hit by a bronze valkyrie tends to break bones and scrape off flesh. The young blond noble is very lucky that his girlfriend is nearby to heal him. Granted, the pain doesn't go away even if the wounds are gone.

Guiche was surprisingly hardy, as he lasts six rounds due to his more even pacing and sparse use of frantically casting spells. So he must have been developing his skills on his own for awhile now.

"T-T-Thank you... f-for the match...! I-I hope to... d-do this a-again... l-later!" Guiche gasped out uncomfortably. He was tired and hurting all over, the exhaustion and pain only being mildly mitigated because his head was resting on his dear Montmorency's lap.

"You're a fool, do you realize that, Guiche?" said the drill-hair girl as she made sure to carefully heal all the scratches on his skin.

He let out a deep sigh that mixed in with his deep breathing, "I know," he replied.

And he really does. Guiche knows just how pointless it is to argue with Montmorency, she's just as zealous as Louise is when it comes to discipline.

Heck, Montmorency even uses a whip.

...

Next up, the strawberry blond master!

The Overlord didn't have information on Void yet and he couldn't properly teach Louise how to use magic but he could atleast teach her how to dodge and run in the face of danger. It's about time to give her a follow-up lesson on that day he gave the pinkette a evil-eye for not retreating against Fouquet.

Who knows, maybe something good will happen? Danger is life's teacher after all.

The demi-god points a finger at his little master and gives her abit of the evil-eye. She notices the intent even though she was standing at the side-line and points a finger at herself quizzically and nervously. He simply nods, and just as she is about to say something, he throws a fireball at her; it's harmless but nobody but he knows that.

The crowd scatters and the young lady rolls out of the way, staining her clothes in the grass, she was about to shout something but immediately goes on the run as a barrage of fireball is shot her way.

"SAUTHOTH, YOU IDIOT! IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT! BIG IDIOT!" Louse screamed at the top of lungs, practically by sucking in air and spitting it out, "WHAT IN THE FOUNDER'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU STUPID FAMILIAR?'!"

They play cat-and-mouse nearly all around the Vestri Court for ten minutes. Louise was utterly exhausted and lying down on the cool refreshing cut grass, gasping for air as her body burned in a odd tingling sensation.

If she didn't shout so much, she could have probably kept running for another five minutes.

That just goes to show how physically weak Louise is. Sure, mages in general don't need to be particularly tough but they can atleast be fit. Especially in Louise's case since she can't even handle the recoil from casting her own explosive spells and that also affects her aim.

The Overlord stands over her and Louise gives him a angry glare. She had figured out that he wasn't seriously planning to harm her but he could still make the flames sting like he did at the Familiar Exhibition.

Her angry glare changed into resignation and then turned into a wry smile.

"You... big... stupid... idiot... jerk..." Louise mumbled softly.

...

Later that night, Princess Henrietta came over to Louise's room for another secret visit.

Let's have a peek; it's alot more plot important than whatever is happening outside the room.

Our protagonist, folks, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere was all dressed up in her nightgown ready to go asleep when somebody began knocking on her door. It was two long knocks then three shorts ones, she recognized it but couldn't quite place where she had heard it before.

The young strawberry blond moves to open the door and when she did a cloaked figure quickly rushes into the room. The mysterious guest immediately casts Tranquility before removing her hooded veil.

And it is...! Ta-dah!

The person I mentioned earlier: Princess Henrietta de Tristain. A young woman of nineteen with short dark purplish hair, fair skin, and crystal blue eyes. For this secret meeting, she chose to wear a black cloak, robe, and veil, and carry a normal looking wand.

"Oh, Louise Francoise, my dear Louise! It is good to see you again, my good friend," said the princess as she hugged Louise.

"Please, princess! We met just last week before the Familiar Exhibition!" the pink head said trying to calm down the royal girl.

"Oh, that is true but, Louise, cannot I miss my dear childhood friend? We used to play together all the time without restriction and now meeting you is nothing less than a monumental feat!"

"Please, princess, you exaggerate. You are the royalty of this country and I am but a mere noble student."

"Ah~!" the royal gasped, "If even my dear Louise Francoise acts so distant to me then I could die!"

What are you? A rabbit?

"Please do not jest like that, Your Highness, it is not a funny joke for me to hear."

The two young friends then reminiscence and giggle about the days where they used to play together and simply have fun; the princess was one hell of a tomboy.

And then the mood became solemn.

"I... I am getting married," the princess said with a tinge of sadness, "to the King of Germania."

Louise let slip, "G-Germania?'! That barbaric country of upstarts?'!"

"It cannot be helped, Louise Francoise, it must be done to solidify our alliance. Do you know of the situation in Albion?"

"I... cannot say that I do, Your Highness," the pink head mumbled.

The purple head explained, "Right now the country of Albion is undergoing a rebellion. Many of the nobility have gone against the Royal Family of Albion and it seems that soon they will be overthrown. If the rebels win, then there is a chance that they'll try to conquer our small nation of Tristain next."

Louise's face grew downcast, "And to prevent that, you, princess, must marry with the King of Germania to create an alliance to stave off the Albian rebels..."

Indeed, that is the situation. On the surface that is.

If Louise was thinking normally, she would have realized that something far more sinister was going on in Albion. What normal person would conclude that a country, after finishing its own civil war, would go to invade another country within the next ten years or even invade at all?

Someone who has information of course.

Tristain Spies in Albion have sent in reports to the Royal Palace of Tristain that the Albion Rebellion is being urged on by a group known as 'Reconquista.' Their motive? To reunite all of Halkeginia under their rule and retake the Holy Lands from the elves.

And Albion is obviously just the stepping stone.

"But the alliance between Tristain and Germania has not been sealed yet. Even now, those traitorous Albian nobles seek to destroy the alliance in any way they can... therefore, they are searching frantically for anything that can interfere or call off the marriage."

"And they have found something...?" grimaced Louise.

"Yes."

"Oh Founder! Then... then...!" the pink head began to panic.

"But they do not have it yet, my dear Louise. It remains safe with Prince Wales of the Royal Family of Albion."

"Prince Wales? The Valiant Prince?" the Valliere asked.

The princess nodded, "Yes, the item is with Prince Wales. However, I fear that sooner or later he will fall captive to the rebels and then everything will be ruined and Tristain will fall!"

"I-If I may ask, but what exactly is this item, Your Highness?"

"It is a letter."

A love letter if it wasn't obvious enough to you, dear readers.

Henrietta looked pleadingly at Louise, "Louise Francoise, my dear friend, I am ashamed but I have a most dangerous request to ask of you..."

"Please, anything!" the pink head composed herself energetically, her fangirl side was showing, "Be it the darkest depths of hell or into the land of the elves, if it is for princess' sake, then I'll go anywhere! There is no way that I, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, the third daughter of the House of Valliere, could overlook such a crisis for either you, princess, or Tristain!"

"Then I ask of you, Louise Francoise, will you please meet with Prince Wales and retrieve that letter for me?"

Louise jumped at the chance, "Of course, Your Highness!"

"I am confident that you, my dear friend Louise, and your familiar that had stopped Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth will be able to accomplish this difficult task I have asked of you."

"As you wish," the pink head said with a bow, "How urgent is this mission?"

"I have heard that the rebels have managed to drive the royalists into a corner. It will just be a matter of time before they are defeated, so please depart tomorrow morning. You should be able to find Prince Wales somewhere in the area within or around Newcastle," the royal gave a smile that was almost wry but still delicate, "It will be a perilous journey, Louise Francoise."

"I understand," the Valliere nodded, "But I am prepared to serve and die."

The princess' smile almost grew wry at the statement, "Please consider your safety a top priority, my dear Louise," and took out a letter from her robes and removed a ring from her finger, "When you meet the Crown Prince hand him this letter and he should then return the other letter immediately. And, as for this ring, it is called the '_Water Ruby_,' please consider it as a good luck charm, Louise."

The strawberry blond quietly accepts and bows her head.

...

Finishing their conversation, Princess Henrietta exited the room an-

Holy turd! What the heck is Guiche doing here? This is the girl's dormitory for Spree's sake!

Guiche starts flirting with the princess or something, I don't know, and then faints. Louise is entirely disgusted the whole time.

She sighs and turns to face the Overlord.

"Sauthoth!" Louise shouted in a whisper, "The princess has assigned me the important task of retrieving a letter! So be ready, for tomorrow morning, we depart for Albion!"

Okay, so Princess Henrietta de Tristain has somehow managed to rope her best friend into a dangerous mission into enemy territory that could get her killed...

What's the worst that can happen?

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_The Religion of Founder Brimir_ - The country of Romalia is the birthplace of the Religion of Founder Brimir, established nearly 6000 years ago by Brimir's apprentice. Founder Brimir is hailed as the holiest person to have existed in all of Halkeginia, and perhaps the world, for creating the System of Magic currently used today (Void/Fire/Earth/Wind/Water), the Familiar Summoning Ritual, the five great countries that descended from his bloodline (Tristain/Germania/Romalia/Albion/Gallia), and gifting mages (Nobles) the right to rule over commoners; he is considered '_Founder Brimir_' because of that.

The religion is formally known as '_Brimirality_' and members are known as '_Brimirics_.'

_Brimir's Familiars_ - The familiars of Founder Brimir are entirely shrouded in mystery; there are very few legends or stories that do not completely speak solely or deify Brimir himself. Most people are completely unaware that he even had familiars. Old records only indicated that he had four of them but only contained their names, titles, and a small description of their roles.

_Gandalfr_ - '_The Left Hand of God_' or '_The Sword and Shield of God_' - It is said to have been able to wield any weapon and could annihilate entire armies by itself.

_Windalfr_ - '_The Right Hand of God_' or '_The Command and Right of God_' - It is said to have had the ability to identify, defeat, and command any magical beast.

_Myozunitonirn_ - '_The Mind of God_' or '_The Knowledge and Wisdom of God_' - It is said to have had the ability to recognize and properly use any magical item.

_Lifdrasir_ - '_The Heart of God_' or '_The Soul and Power of God_' - It is said to have had the ability to transfer its own willpower into Brimir or increase the strength and effectiveness of his Void Spells.


	12. Lightning Lightning Lightning Flash I

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twelve - Lightning Lightning Lightning Flash [I]

* * *

That night, after meeting with Princess Henrietta, our heroine Louise had a dream.

She was back home at the Valliere estates, young again at the childish age of six, and for one reason or another she was running away from her mother. She retreated back to her '_Secret Garden_,' a forgotten lake near her house, and it was a beautiful place.

Though why it's called a _garden_ when its clearly a _lake_ still eludes me...

It was normally a very tranquil place where the flowers bloom and the birds perch themselves to sing or fly about. And in the center of the lake was a small island on which a little patio made of marble rested.

'_Normally_' being the case because the area around the lake was truly bizarre as she pushed away some bushes and, in her sight, she saw people dining, talking, or drinking in tables all around her Secret Garden.

And she hasn't ever seen them before, let alone know who they are.

Louise sees...

A table with three people on it. A man in golden armor, a girl in blue armor, and a large red barbaric looking man, they all exuded some kind of regal aura and sat together drinking.

A table with two young boys on it. A boy with reddish-black hair with a large staff besides him drinking tea and a strange inhuman like boy with white hair drinking coffee.

A large festival with many females. The numbers of participants was merely indescribable and all had many unique traits and wore clothing that she has never seen before. Some had hats, some didn't. Some had tails, some didn't. Some had wings, some didn't. The person who caught her eye the most was a young girl with strange rainbow jeweled wings.

And much, much more.

While vaguely wandering around, she meets a skeletal butler with a mustache who directs her towards a small boat. Louise gets on the boat, and a young girl with red eyes and straight long black hair, dressed in a exotic robe with a flower motif, silently guides the vessel to the center island.

The small island was shrouded in a dense fog, but as Louise takes her first step onto land, the fog begins to clear and she sees two people there. Her familiar, Sauthoth, with his blade ready and somehow she could tell that he was angry. And her fiance, Viscount Wardes, with his own sword wand ready and looking like a crazed man.

What did it mean? The young Valliere did not know.

She blinked and woke up from that curiously surreal dream, which she does not even remember.

...

Dawn had only just broken and Louise, the Overlord, and Guiche were waiting outside the gates of the academy and preparing the saddles on their horses. Well, Louise and Guiche were anyways, the Overlord was planning to power-jog the distance.

Their first destination was the port city, La Rochelle, located in the coast of Gallia near Tristain, and it was situated deep in a rocky area. The entire place was carved out from the natural landscape by several Square-Class Earth Mages and had a small local population of about 300 but a tourist and traveler number of around 3000. From there, they would charter a airship to take them to Albion.

The young pair had woken up extremely early to prepare for this journey. They brought perfume and cologne to hide their stench since they wouldn't have time to bathe. They pooled together gold in case they had needed it for one reason or another. They brought spare wands for emergency use. And a couple of other travel-needed stuff.

Last night, Princess Henrietta assured the two that they would be properly excused from school while they were on the trip and that she had sent for a escort to meet them early in the morning.

So here they were waiting for said escort after placing the finishing touches on their ride.

"I have a request..." Guiche said meekly and awkwardly.

The pink head looked bored but was hiding her slightly aching body, "And that would be?"

"I wish to bring along my familiar."

You mean the mole?

"You mean that overgrown mole of yours?"

Hey, that's what I sorta said!

"Ah, yes, my familiar is a mole..." he weakly said. Obviously his relationship with Louise was rather uncomfortably fragile and was like walking on thin ice; he wasn't going to be forceful with her anytime soon.

As if on cue, the creature popped its head out of the ground. It was, well, a giant mole the size of Louise and had a blue upside-down triangle on its forehead.

Also, Guiche did a complete three-sixty.

"Verdandi! Oh, my cute Verdandi~!" he gushed, "You're cute no matter what angle I look from!" rubbing cheek to cheek with his familiar.

Okay... so you're a vain narcissist playboy that honestly loves his familiar. Oh boy, I think I have to reevaluate my opinion on you, kiddo.

Louise wasn't disgusted at the sight but she was feeling weird at seeing Guiche being so genuinely adoring of his mole.

She looked to the Overlord before looking back at the mole, "As long as it can keep pace with us."

And then Verdandi jumped onto Louise, "GAH!" she cried out and struggled, "What is this stupid thing trying to do?'! Stop! Stop this instance! Get off of me!"

Guiche looked slightly curious but was overall enjoying the scene, '_How beautiful... a mole teasing a damsel..._' and muttered something odd.

The mole was sniffing all around the pink head girl, looking for something, when it saw a ring and started moving towards the girl's right hand.

"Y-You insolent creature! How dare you sniff this ring that Her Highness had bestowed upon for me safe keeping!"

"Ah!" the blond tapped a fist into a open palm, "I see now, it's the ring. Verdandi loves jewels, especially the rare ones."

"It's a pest!" It was reaching the point where Louise wanted to hurt the oversize cute thing.

"Verdandi is not a pest!" Guiche said offended, "I trained her to be able to search for any precious minerals, metals, and jewels! For an Earth Mage like I, it is valuable skill for my familiar to have when collecting reagents!"

The Overlord was standing around and letting the scene play its course. He considered it something like a morning stretch for his strawberry blond master.

_WHOOSH~!_ A sudden gust appears and blows the giant mole away.

"Oh no! My Verdandi!" Guiche cries out.

The Overlord turned to face the source of the magic. And the source of evil.

A tall man appeared behind Guiche. He was draped in a dull dark blue cloak with two light-blue griffin insignias and wore an equally dull dark blue feathered hat. Underneath he wore black clothing like a shirt, vest, jacket, double-belt, pants, and boots. Attached to the belt was something that looked like an extremely shortened but sturdy fencing rapier; a Sword Wand, the favored weapon of Mage Knights.

The older man's face was very suave. He had long gray hair and a well trimmed mustache and beard, and his eyes were a sharp cold blue. And his physique, which couldn't be seen under his clothes, was actually very fit and athletic; he could slap silly a majority of warriors that challenged him to a physical brawl.

A perfect '_gentleman warrior_' is what anyone would say if they saw this man.

Guiche pulled out his wand at the new visitor, "W-Who are you? How dare you attack my familiar!"

Within an instance the wand was snatched out of the blond's hand.

"My apologies, young lad. I am the escort that Her Highness has assigned to take you to Albion," the older gent said with a hand on his chest and lightly bowed, "I am Captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes."

Guiche shut his mouth as though breathing didn't matter anymore.

In all of Halkeginia, there are generally three main 'rider' divisions within the army: The Griffin Knights, the Dragon Knights, and the Manticore Knights. All three divisions had riders that rode the mighty and majestic beasts of their namesake, and any young noble would consider it a prestigious honor to join up with any of these divisions.

The blond was pretty much looking at a Founder damn idol.

So this was Viscount Wardes, huh? Oh, he's evil alright, the Overlord can feel it. Scheming and treachery, just like Fouquet was, except this man leaned towards Wrath.

The demi-god can't just cut him down where he stands though, he needs more... definite proof before he can kill the man; for Louise's sake of course. Until then, the Overlord will have to carefully watch his movement.

Viscount Wardes continues to look apologetic, but somewhat playfully as well, "Like I said, boy, my apologies. I am sorry for what I did to your familiar, I thought my fiancee was getting attacked by some kind of monster."

"F-Fiancee?" Guiche yelped.

"Sir Wardes..." Louise mumbled blushing.

"Louise, it's been such a long time since I've seen you last, such a long time indeed, my dear Louise," the older man said.

"Yes, it really has been a long time... about five years?"

The captain approached Louise and carried her up, "Hmm, yes, about five years, but you're still as light as a feather, my Little Louise~"

"V-Viscount...! Please...! There are people w-watching!"

The man gave a hearty laugh as he put her back down, "Well then, care to introduce your companions to me?"

"Ahem, this is Guiche de Gramont and over there is my familiar, Sauthoth."

The mage knight analyzed the Overlord with a piercing glare. The demi-god returned the favor.

"I see, so this your familiar, my dear Louise," the man started, "I had read the reports that he was the one who had eliminated Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth, and I had even heard rumors about his appearance and abilities from some of the guards that went and attended the Familiar Exhibition with Her Highness... But I see now that the rumors do not do him justice. A towering giant wearing frightening armor...," he turned to face Louise with a bright smile, "You have truly summoned a most impressive familiar, my Little Louise."

He tips his hat, "Thank you for taking such good care of my fiancee."

The Overlord does not respond.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Viscount!" Louise squeaks, "He... does not speak."

"He does not speak?" the man rose a brow, "At all?"

"Yes, he has not spoken a word since I have summoned him."

"I see... that in itself does not pose much of a problem but his size may be a problem."

"His size, Viscount?"

The captain whistles and a golden baked griffin descends from the morning clouds.

A Griffin, in Halkeginia, is a creature with the head of eagle, the body of a lion, and had angelic feathered wings on their back. They are usually gold, brown, and white, and sometimes red, in coloration. They have sharp claws and a mighty beak and are considered the most majestic, graceful, and beautiful of the three Rider Beasts. And of the three, the griffin species are considered the fastest and most mobile, though with the least endurance.

"You see, my dear Louise," Wardes said lending out a hand to her, "You and I shall be riding together on my griffin, Gryffindor, and I see the Gramont boy has a horse. But I do not believe that your familiar will be able to follow us on foot without an appropriately swift ride."

The pink head blinked, "Huh? Why?"

The older man gave a gentle smile, "As you know, this is a very important mission that Her Highness has assigned us, so we must make haste. By horse, it would take two days, but my Gryffindor can fly straight to La Rochelle within a single day. I do not wish to delay this mission and put your life in anymore danger than I must, my Little Louise, thus in a scenario like this, I'm afraid that we must leave behind the lad and your familiar."

Louise was speechless. There was no way she could argue back; his logic made absolute sense to her.

'_Wah!_' a boy cries out.

The engaged couple turn around to see that the Overlord is carrying Guiche and Verdandi under his arms; his left hand was gripping his sword and the Familiar Runes giving him energy. With the rest of their things, that were previously on the horses, slung over his shoulders.

"You...! Can you can keep with us?" Louise asks hopefully. As much as she would love to go alone with Wardes, leaving without her guardian familiar was detrimental to her security. She didn't doubt that Wardes was strong, but she knew that her familiar was strong enough to beat the ever living life out of anyone and anything that could come their way.

And, sure he can. The Overlord might be alittle rusty in actually running but he could probably still do it. You know, faster than a speeding bullet, and what not.

The demi-god gives a simple nod and Louise happily turns to face her fiance.

"My familiar will be fine, Viscount Wardes."

...

Wardes wasn't kidding when he said that his griffin could fly for a day straight. And it was flying fast and hard, not tiring or slowing down even abit; it was a golden blur with trails of dull dark blue and strawberry blond.

On the other hand, the Overlord was a freaking speeding monster that stomped through everything in his way. And if that didn't work he would just plow right through it; it was a miracle that Guiche and Verdandi weren't dead but they were squealing in sheer terror all the way.

It was nearing night when the small super-fast group arrived near the edge of La Rochelle.

And then suddenly a barrage of arrows came raining down on them. And by '_them_' I mean the Overlord, Guiche, and Verdandi, as Wardes and Louise were safe in the sky.

A powerful Combustion by the Overlord protected the three, well, the two more squishy companions, from being riddled with arrows.

Guiche blinked, "What is... What is happening?" and then he saw a arrow burn and melt before his eyes did he then realize his situation, "A-A-Ambush?'!"

The Overlord stopped and looked for the source of the arrows. You know what happens to people who shoot arrows at the Overlord? They used to be skull rats, adventurers, mercenaries, or whatever, until they got fireball to the knee, that then horribly burned and melted into charred remains and ashes.

They became crippled and then died horribly painful deaths, is what I'm saying.

Screams and shouting could be heard on a cliff as arrows are shot towards the night sky.

The archers are seemingly distracted by something and Wardes regroups with the ground team.

"Hmm... there's another rider out there," the captain says, "They seem to be using Wind magic."

On cue, a small hurricane blows away the attacking archers, the lucky ones, or maybe unlucky ones, ended up rolling down the cliff-side, while the rest fell hard onto the ground. They lied on the floor twitching and moaning and probably suffering from a few broken bones and bruises as well.

"Ah! It's Sylphid!" Louise shouted and pointed at the oncoming dragon.

The dragon landed and Kirche jumped down and flicked her hair, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

The two red-shade girls began talking and then bickering. Tabitha, wearing her pajamas, was reading a book and Guiche made himself useful by offering to interrogate the bandits. Eventually the red head tried to flirt with Wardes who easily brushed her aside. Then Guiche came back saying that the group was just a bunch of plain ol' robbers.

Wardes said to let them go, even though he was a officer of the Tristain military, he was currently in a covert operation and didn't want to attract too much attention by arresting them and bringing them to La Rochelle's local authorities, so he simply knocked them out and left them on the roadside.

He then announced to everyone, "We'll spend the night at La Rochelle and tomorrow we will take the first ship to Albion at the break of dawn. But before we go to sleep, we must have a talk with our extra guests."

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Halkeginia_ - Halkeginia is a large continent composing of the five great countries of Tristain, Albion, Germania, Gallia, Romalia, and also the currently Elven controlled region known as '_The Holy Lands_.' The large body of water that coasts a majority of the shores of Halkeginia is known as the '_Perseus Sea_.' Despite the fact that other countries and civilizations are known, a majority of the landmass beyond Halkeginia are simply unexplored regions divided by a immense desert known as '_Rub Al Khali_.'

Albion is the smallest of the countries at half the size of Tristain.  
Romalia and The Holy Lands are about four times the size of Tristain.  
Germania and Gallia are about ten times the size of Tristain.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Some changes are being made to the earlier chapters, some additional lines here and there or exchanging one word for another. Nothing plot important that weren't already in the chapter when they were posted.

Oddly enough, some of the chapters actually had their word count go down instead of up. My overall word count, as of Chapter 11, went from 40,000 to 38,000 after all the editing.


	13. Lightning Lightning Lightning Flash II

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Thirteen - Lightning Lightning Lightning Flash [II]

* * *

The port city, La Rochelle, was a bustling city full of life even during the night. That was because it was the biggest port city, doubling as a seaport and a airport, in all of Gallia, and most of its lifeblood came from heavy trading with Albion and Tristian.

As mention before, a majority of La Rochelle is entirely carved out of the preexisting stone. What wasn't mentioned was the fact that most of the buildings were built into two different cliff-sides. Thus, on the left cliffs were the residential areas, consisting of homes, inns, hotels, and a few eateries, and on the right cliffs was the business district full of business; they were separated by a medium sized road that either lead outside the city or continued onto the beach and seaport.

The La Rochelle Airport rested on the very top of the right cliffs, where a immensely gargantuan but hollowed-out tree stood rooted firmly.

Oddly enough, Halkeginia airports are giant trees and the airships look like fruits when they dock on them.

So continuing on, the group made their way to the fanciest hotel in the city, the Goddess Temple, which is not a temple nor does it even look like one. It was one of the fancier, and thus expensive, places in the city because everything was made out of clean and polished marble.

Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche were waiting at the hotel, sitting down on a table that they had reserved to eat on. Sylphid, Verdandi, and Gryffindor were waiting somewhere outside. And Louise, Wardes, and the Overlord had gone to the airport to reserve a ride.

Unfortunately, when they returned, it turned out that none of the airships would be departing to Albion until the day after tomorrow because by then Albion was the closet to La Rochelle and the travel would only be a day away.

You see, airships in Halkeginia run on something called '_Windstones_' which are just stones that store wind magic. Naturally speaking, they're hard to find, relatively expensive, and damn well difficult to maintain, thus most windstones are in the hands of nobles that can recharge them at will or in the hands of the military for their '_Sky Navy_.'

That's why commoner airships, like the ones that Wardes was trying to commission, try to save as much windstones as possible per flight; they're limited.

Still, our heroes were able to reserve a ship.

With that in mind, tomorrow was going to be a rest day and, with the night coming, the group decided to eat and then go to bed.

"As you know, young ladies," Wardes said addressing Kirche and Tabitha, "We are on a very important mission from Her Highness, thus we cannot take unrelated civilians with us."

Kirche smiled, "That's fine, we'll find our own way to Albion, won't we Tabitha?" she said with a wink. In truth, it was entirely possible just to fly to Albion on Sylphid when it got close enough.

The book lover just nodded.

"Traveling with a smaller inconspicuous group is crucial," the man rebuked. Though already have being seen with a strawberry blond girl, a red head, a blue head, and a twelve foot person clad in black armor tends to be contradictory to that. "This is a secret assignment, young ladies, that we cannot tell nor bring you along with us. And I must insist that you two go home, if we bring you along then there is a possibility that you will interfere with our mission due to your lack of knowledge, and if not that, then I cannot say that we can guarantee your safety on this journey."

"That's fine, Tabitha and I are both Triangle-Class Mages," she retorted while taking a sip of her tea.

Wardes blinked, "Triangle-Class Mages, you say..."

"Indeed, I am Kirche the Ardent and I come from a proud military family in Germania known as the Von Zerbst," she smiled, "and that is Tabitha the Snowstorm, a chevalier."

He blinked again and then chuckled, "I see, a Von Zerbst and a chevalier... both Triangle-Class Mages as well... what an interesting pair you two are," he rubbed his chin, "Very well, you two may come along," and then emphasized, "However, I cannot divulge the content of our mission and you must obey my orders during the trip. I will only inform you of your roles during the day of departure, am I understood?"

"Of course~" the red head purred.

After the meal, the topic veered towards the rooms and Wardes placed some keys on the table.

"The young ladies shall share a room," the man nodded to the red and blue pair before he glanced at Guiche, "While the young lad..." and then he quirks a brow wondering whether the armored-familiar even slept at all, but continued speaking with a non-noticeable pause, "and the familiar shall share a room."

"No, it's alright. Sauthoth can stand watch outside in the hallway," Louise said. She knew that there was no way that her familiar could fit through the bedroom doors and she couldn't ever imagine him sleeping. In fact, the only reason he was able to get in so far is because the entrances tended to be rather big for whatever reason.

Well, it would have been funny to have Guiche stay up all night because the Overlord was glaring at him, but the strawberry blond felt more comfortable if she knew that she could immediately find him in the hallway if she needed him.

"Alright then. The young ladies shall share a room, the young boy will take a room for himself, while your familiar will stand guard in the hallway," Wardes picks up a key, "You, my Little Louise, will be sharing a room with me."

Louise furiously blushed, "W-We can't! I-It's too s-soon! We're not even m-married yet!"

The older man simply smiled, "Then do not worry, I promise not to do anything that you do not wish for during our stay here. But tonight, I have something important to tell you, my dear Louise."

...

Ahem, so while everybody is off to bed... who shall we peek on, dear readers?

_Um..._

I'm sure Kirche is just flirting around with the staff and Tabitha is reading her book. Guiche is probably tired after his death-defying experience and has gone straight to bed. And the Overlord is watching the room where Louise, and consequently Wardes, are staying, like a very angry father with a happy trigger finger; his hand is holding his sword so he could rush in at a moment's notice.

Speaking of the engaged couple, I assure you, dear readers, that nothing adult-like happens between the two tonight. Except for the part where Wardes explains that he wants to marry Louise right after this mission is done.

I guess we got nobody. Let's mo-

Wait, wait, wait!

I forgot to mention the part where Guiche woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and got the so scared at the sight of the Overlord in the dark hallway that he almost went and soiled himself then and there.

He didn't but his face was priceless.

_Hahahaha!_

_Ha!_

Okay, now let's move on to the next day.

...

La Rochelle, the next day, early morning. Free rest day.

Okay, let's be serious, I have no idea what most of everybody is doing.

Tabitha? Probably in her room sleeping or awake and reading a book. Kirche? Probably in some _other_ person's room sleeping. Guiche? Sleeping. Louise? Sleeping in without an alarm clock.

That just leaves Wardes and the Overlord.

The mage knight had invited the demi-god to breakfast but didn't receive a answer, and so left for the dining hall to eat and returning awhile after.

"I hold great interest in you," the man began, "I had heard that you have defeated and rid Halkeginia of the terrible Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth and I have heard that you even have the ability to use strange magic. While I do not doubt your skills, Familiar, I, however, do wish to test them," he narrowed his eyes in delight, "I want to see how I, Mage Knight Captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, will fare against the rumored 'Black Magic Knight' that my fiancee has summoned."

_PFFTTT._ Okay, a excuse for the Overlord to beat the snot out of you? Alright.

The armored demi-god agrees with a nod.

"Excellent, follow me."

The man leads the Overlord to a desolate looking area that had a bunch of empty and broken barrels and crates.

He pulls out his sword wand and starts talking, "Before, under the reign of Philip III, this place was often used as a ground to host duels between nobility," he said as he inspected his weapon, "In a time long ago, when duels were more common, when nobles acted like nobles... They risked their life for fame and honor and fought with deadly magic," he whipped his sword, "Tell me, Familiar, you a warrior, are you not?"

That is not even a question, you idiot.

In response the Overlord took out the Abyssal Sword.

"I see, good," the man said, "but a traditional duel cannot start until we have a witness."

And then, as if on cue, Louise comes out looking dumbfounded. Guiche came afterward, as well as Kirche, and Tabitha who was dragged along.

"Viscount Wardes, you have called for me, and I have come... but what is that I am looking at?" the pink head said. She was getting a bad feeling.

"I wish to test myself against your familiar, my Little Louise. In other words, a duel between men."

"WHAT?'!" the pink and blond shouted together.

The pink head already knew how powerful her familiar was from the Black Spire incident. So did Kirche and Tabitha, which I should say, were now putting their full attention on this exciting upcoming battle; it's not everyday you get to see a Mage Knight fight against a Magic Knight, especially of these calibers. On the other hand, Guiche only had a duel and a training session to his experience and he already knew that the armored familiar was way too hardcore for him.

"Stop this nonsense!" the Valliere snapped out, "Now is not the time for such stupidities. We cannot have anybody injuring the other in this trip!"

"Worry not, I can hire an expert healer, if need be."

The girl grimaced, "Sauthoth," she said with crossed arms, "You are to refrain from harming the Viscount with your sword or magic, and you are not allowed to kill him. Remember, this is a duel."

Killjoy.

The Overlord sheathed back his sword.

The mage knight smiled playfully, "You're placing quite a handicap on your familiar. I did not think I would live to see the day that my fiancee would underestimate me but it seems that I must now prove my worth to her."

"No, that is not it, Viscount," the pink said surprisingly coldly and out of character for her, "My familiar is simply a true monster when holding a sword. I am here to witness a duel, not a slaughter."

Yikes, she must be remembering those dead orcs.

The man frowned and twitched an eyebrow, "I see, then I suppose I should not hold back then," he said as he prepared his stance.

Louise sighed. She raised an arm and swung it down, "Begin."

Wardes went for a quick and trustworthy spell, '_Air Hammer_,' an invisible pressure of air that hits like a hammer. And that's at the weakest strength, at the highest for a Square-Class Wind Mage it can be as powerful, and deadly, as a cannonball.

Did you expect that to work? Nope!

Objection! Overruled!

You've been denied!

To the Overlord it's nothing but a gentle breeze. But he does not move yet. Sometimes the best tactic is to wait and let the opponent try their all before forcing them into a corner.

Wardes takes several steps back and begins another spell, '_Wind Cutter_,' and that fails to put a scratch on the demi-god.

He laughs, "Truly, a monster, just as my fiancee says. I cannot hold back then. My Runic Title is 'the Lightning Flash,' so I shall hit you with my strongest lightning spell!"

And then he begins to loudly chant, "Oh heavens above! Heed my call! Your mighty fist and anger taken form! Strength of a unrelenting storm! Thunder and Lightning, as swift and true! The shocking revelation, Lightning Flash!"

It happened in an instance. A blur of several somethings hit the the Overlord and exploded all around him and dust clouded the air.

This was a very familiar scene to Louise. It was almost exactly like the duel with Guiche.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

Oh, yes, almost exactly like the duel with Guiche, indeed.

The Overlord walked out unharmed from the dust clouds and moved towards the captain.

The man blinked at the sight, even his strongest spell was shrugged off like it was nothing. While he stood gaping, the demi-god was right in front of him with his hand out.

Wardes blankly reached out his hand for a handshake but was than backhand-slapped and went flying straight towards and crashing onto a bunch of barrels.

_Ha!_ Sucker.

"SAUTHOTH!" Louise screamed, "What do you think you're doing?'! The duel is over!"

The mage knight coughed, "It's alright, it's alright! The duel wasn't over yet..." he said, "I yield. You have proven to be more than a match for me, Fami-, no, Sir Sauthoth," and he lazily waved to Guiche, "Lad, would you mind calling a healer for me?"

"O-Of course! Right away, sir!" the blond saluted before dashing off.

The Overlord continued to stare at the dull dark blue man. Despite the overwhelming difference in power, the man's tenacity did not waver, his scheming did not disappear, and his treachery was still there.

In fact they had only grown.

...

It was nearing nighttime and Kirche, Guiche, and Wardes were drinking. Tabitha was sitting reading a book and Louise was still huffing at the Overlord for injuring her fiance.

And then suddenly arrows and swords!

A group of soldiers, _hmm_, veteran mercenaries came rushing into the dining hall. Though saying it was '_a group_' would be putting it lightly, as their numbers was practically in the hundreds.

Our group of heroes, folks, immediately took cover and began returning fire. Except for the Overlord who stood in front of their table-cover and took pot-shots at the attackers.

Screw you and your arrows, people!

"This is rather troublesome," stated Wardes, "They're not a simple band of robbers if they're resorting to something as public as this."

"Could it be? The Albian nobles have already discovered us?" squeaked Louise.

"It is a possibility... We should think of this as a diversion. Either there is another group planning to burn down the airport or the rebel forces are close to completing their objective."

"What are we to do?"

"Everyone, listen to me carefully," and they did, "As long as one group arrives safely to Albion then we can still succeed in our mission. Sir Sauthoth will storm through the center and Louise and I shall use that opportunity to escape and commandeer an airship. The rest of you must stay behind and hold them off for us."

"W-Wait! So we're the b-b-bait?" Guiche yelped.

"Do not fret, lad, Sir Sauthoth shall stay behind and assist you after clearing the pathway."

"Viscount Wardes!" Louise didn't quite agree with the idea.

"Louise, my dear Little Louise, Sir Sauthoth is the hardiest and perhaps strongest of us all here. If he stays, then we can almost guarantee the lives of your friends here."

Kirche giggled, "It seems we're being underestimated here, Tabitha," she said as she twirled her wand, "Sauthoth," she addressed the demi-god, "All you need to do is instill some fear into them. We can handle the rest from there, so you're free to run along and protect your little master~"

Good plan, I like this better. No way should we leave Louise alone with Wardes.

The Overlord immediately rushed out and switched from Double-Handed Fireballs to a Double-Handed Flamethrower and was like a kid in a candy store. He set his targets on fire, and then those thugs set the other thugs on fire, and it was hilarious to see the fear run through all the harden mercenaries. He steamrolled through everything in his way; and to everybody on the opposite end of his rampage, they were seeing a raging demon.

Guiche was made to quickly leap into action and follow the Overlord's lead; he created two dozen Bronze Valkyries to shield the group from flames and arrows. Kirche and Tabitha each took a side and fired random volleys of fireballs or icicles to send the enemies retreating. Louise and Wardes took the back of the formation.

Once outside, the group saw one vividly hellish sight. The Overlord had activated a short Combustion that acted like a sprinkler raining down sweet burning justice to all the thugs on the field. The mercenaries were running and screaming for their lives, on fire or no, and the remaining eighty-five-percent had fled; the remaining fifteen-percent were archers testing their luck.

With the court cleared, the plan began.

"Now!" Wardes shouted and the group split.

Guiche used his valkyries to shield them from archer fire and immediately retreated underground with help from Verdandi. Kirche and Tabitha got on Sylphid and began raining down magic on the archers and collapsing their ranks before escaping.

Louise, Wardes, and the Overlord were rushing to the airport with little to no interference.

There was alot of stairs though.

Alot, alot of stairs.

Eventually they reached a airship and just rushed onto it. A sleeping sailor was startled awake and began complaining, but Wardes would have none of that crap.

"I am assuming direct control!" the mage knight shouted, "Bring out your captain here, now!"

This was apparently the same airship they were planning to use tomorrow morning, but you know, destiny calls and all that jazz, so proper protocols were being ignored here. It didn't take long for Wardes to take control and have the ship soaring in the air.

The airship didn't have enough windstones for the trip, but since Wardes was luckily a Square-Class Wind Mage, he could make up for the rest of the fuel.

...

Much later on, truly in the early morning, did a large flying island come into sight.

There it was: Albion, '_the White Country_.'

It was a floating island with clouds completely covering the bottom of the land mass.

"We're here..." mumbled Louise who woke up with a blanket wrapped around her and snuggled next to the Overlord who had to stay above deck because of his size. Wardes was busy chatting with the captain.

And then, suddenly, panic shouting could be heard from the sailors as they rushed about with crazed energy.

"PIRATES!"

And a black ship, twice the size of their own airship, was coming right for them.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Runic Name/Title_ - A Runic Name is a self-proclaimed name that is usually one, two, or three words long, that a mage chooses for themselves to identify and describe their best skills. However, only Square-Class Nobles are given a Runic Title, a prestigious title granted by royalty.

_Air Hammer_ [Dot Wind] - 'An invisible pressure of air that hits like a solid object.' - _"The weak winds that become the mighty storm! Strike, Air Hammer!"_

_Wind Cutter_ [Line Wind] - 'An series of invisible winds that can cut like sharp blades.' - _"The weak breeze that becomes the raging hurricane! Gather and howl! Wind Cutter!"_

_Lightning Flash_ [Square Lightning (Wind+Wind+Fire+Fire)] - 'A unique spell developed by Viscount Wardes, it is a series of devastating lightning spears that crashes into a target at blinding speeds.' - _"Oh heavens above! Heed my call! Your mighty fist and anger taken form! Strength of a unrelenting storm! Thunder and Lightning, as swift and true! The shocking revelation, Lightning Flash!"_


	14. Lightning Lightning Lightning Flash III

**Zero's Noble Overlord **

Chapter Fourteen - Lightning Lightning Lightning Flash [III]

* * *

A much larger and painted all-black pirate ship was approaching from the distance. It had twenty or more cannons aimed at the airship, '_Marie Galante_,' that Louise, Wardes, and the Overlord were riding on to get to Albion.

Oh jeez, first bandits, then mercenaries, and now pirates.

Someone is a magnet for trouble...

The pirates fire a warning shot to order the Marie Galante to stop. The smaller and less-armed airship had no choice but to stop and gets boarded. Pirates wielding swords and axes stomped on board, while a few others remained on their ships with rifles poised and ready.

"We're pirates! YARGH! Don't resist and we don't hurt ya!" shouted one of the oddly dressed pirates.

Gryffindor, who was on the front of the deck, was growling at all the pirates but then its head was covered in a blue-white smoke and the beast promptly fell into a deep and heavy sleep.

"A sleeping spell... they've got mages..." states Wardes who came up onto the deck.

All the pirates took easy notice of the twelve foot armored demi-god and surrounded him the most. They tried the same spell on the Overlord five times to no effect and obviously they were getting scared.

And also: screw pirates!

The Overlord has had enough dealing with thugs this week.

Raising both hands, the Overlord creates a single large fireball that was one-fourth the size of the Marie Galante within an instant.

"WWOOOAAAAHHHHH!" the pirates and sailors shuttered in fear at the giant ball of death.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? ARE YOU TRYING TO BURN US ALL TO DEATH?'!" screamed out one of the pirate in perfect pronunciation.

Wardes quickly stepped forward and took control of the situation, "As you can see, my associate here has some very powerful fire magic. I suggest that, if you don't want to either burn with your ship or fall several thousand feet into the ocean, that you call your cptain so that we may have a civil negotiation."

"I"ll G-GET THE B-B-BOSS!" stuttered a pirate as he ran off back to the black ship.

The stuttering pirate returned soon after with another pirate that didn't look much like a pirate.

"Oh dear," the fake looking pirate said.

"I take it that you're the 'boss' of this crew?" Wardes inquired.

"Indeed, I am, and you are?" the fake looking pirate spoke politely without an ounce of fear.

"Captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, Viscount Wardes," the mage knight said tipping his hat.

"I see, I see, and what would be your business here?"

"I believe I am the one asking the questions here, Sir Pirate."

"Oh, of course, my apologies."

The griffin knight narrowed his eyes, "Who do you work for?"

"Hmm..." the man tilted his head. He then removed his black wig, beard, and eyepatch to reveal his blond hair and youthful but adult face, "I am a general of the Albion Royal Air Force and also the commander of this fleet. Though to tell you the truth, this warship named '_Eagle_' is the only ship left in our fleet," the blond man shrugged his shoulders, "Ah, what a powerless fleet we are, even the people from the streets could easily beat us."

"What are you doing dressed like pirates?'!" out came Louise in indignation.

"Who are you?" the fake pirate blinked.

Wardes raised a arm to stop the pink head from going any further, "This is an ambassador sent by Her Highness of Tristain from the Valliere family," and then he pointed to the Overlord who was still maintaining the fireball, "and that is her familiar."

"Ah, an ambassador, you say?" the blond man perked up, "I assume you bring good news then?"

The mage knight placed out a hand, "First, you must answer the ambassador's question, Sir General."

"Oh, of course. You see, the rich rebels send alot of support to the rebellion, and it's a basic war tactic to cut an enemy's supply line. Thus it was necessary for my crew and I to dress up like pirates."

Wardes heartily laughed, "A sound tactic, Sir General."

"Thank you," the blond turned to Louise, "Now then, what news do you bring?"

A thin pirate moved toward the blond general, "Sir, why don't we continue this discussion somewhere more private?"

"How about my quarters then?"

"I refuse," Louise said with crossed arms, "I shall not discuss anything without my familiar present."

"Is that so? Well, the cargo bay should do fine then," suggested the royalist general with a nod.

...

One quick scene change to the cargo bay later...

Louise, Wardes, and the Overlord stood on one side and the blond general and the thin soldier stood on the other. The place was conspicuously not full of crates, though maybe it's because the cargo of Maria Galante were going to be acquired and placed here.

Anyways, it was agreed that the Maria Galante would follow the Eagle to some secret Royal Albion port to get into Newcastle. They couldn't stay in the air to chat because then they would be out in the open and they didn't want to waste their precious windstones either.

"Well then, what business brings you here to Albion?" asked the blond general.

Wardes spoke, "We are here to discuss a private matter with the Crown Prince of Albion. I hope, Sir General, that you'll be able to arrange a meeting for us?"

"Ah, yes, I can arrange that," the man nodded, "Though, may I ask, what is it that you seek to gain if I grant you an audience with him?"

"As I said before, it is a private matter."

"Oh, excuse me then, but do you have any proof that you're ambassadors of Princess Henrietta de Tristain?"

"How rude!" Louise huffed, "Of course we do!" she said and displayed the Water Ruby on her hand. The young general pulled out a ring of his own and touched the ruby, a small and beautiful rainbow forms above the two jewels.

"Wah, but that...!" Louise uttered.

"The Water Ruby is one of the heirlooms that belongs to the Royal Family of Tristain, and this," he displayed his own ring, "is the Wind Ruby, a heirloom of the Royal Family of Albion."

Wardes bowed, "My apologies for not recognizing you sooner, Your Highness."

Louise forgot her manners and stood with her mouth open.

The prince simply waved his hand, "That is alright, Viscount Wardes. Please, stand," after the mage knight stood, he continued, "So, what is this matter that you wish to discuss?"

The pink head shook her head and clear her thoughts before handing the blond prince the letter.

The man read through it seriously.

"Oh dear, the princess is marrying...? The beautiful Henrietta is... my beloved cousin is... marrying?"

Louise and Wardes nodded.

"I see," the prince solemnly nodded his own head. He resealed the letter and returned it to Louise, "You're here for a very important letter, however, I do not have it on me. It's at Newcastle."

"Ah, a good thing that we agreed to head to Newcastle beforehand then, is it not, Your Highness?" smirked Wardes.

The prince laughed, "A good thing, indeed."

...

On the way to Newcastle, our heroes spotted an enormous airship called the '_Lexington_.' It was originally named '_Royal Sovereign_' but was captured by the rebels. It was twice as big as the Eagle, had 108 cannons mounted on board, and was currently being used to blockade the skies above Newcastle and occasionally harass the fortress itself.

The Overlord could have burned down the warship but he would need to be closer to do it; as his giant fireballs tend to be on the slow side. But a giant flaming airship falling onto Newcastle would have probably been a bad thing.

On the other hand, that makes you wonder... why haven't the rebels just turn the castle into rubble with cannon-fire? What the heck are they waiting for?

Anyways, because of the Lexington, the Eagle and Maria Galante had to use the secret path into Newcastle, which was right under the Albion continent. To say the least, it was dangerous for anybody who wasn't trained to navigate under the icy and clouded land mass.

After docking, Prince Wales, Louise, Wardes, and the Ovelord went to the prince's room to retrieve the other letter; though the Overlord had to stay outside the hallway, of course.

The royal's room was surprisingly ordinary looking, lacking the riches and grand adornments associated with most nobles, let alone royalty. He sat on a simple wooden chair, opened a drawer, and unlocked a box with his necklace.

Inside was a letter.

It was old-looking, no doubt the man had constantly re-read the contents over and over again; like what he was doing right now. The prince handled the letter with love and read it once more before resealing it and giving it to Louise.

"This is the letter you came to retrieve."

"Thank you," the pink head said with a deep bow.

"The Eagle will send you back to Tristain tomorrow. Please let the princess think of it as a gift."

Louise spoke with some hesitation, "Your final gift, Your Highness?"

"Yes, my final gift to her," the words came out of his mouth so easily, "The Royal Army of Albion is but 300 men strong and the rebel forces near 50,000 men. There is no chance for victory but atleast we will die fighting with glory and honor."

"Including yourself...?"

"Of course, even me. I will die on the field of battle alongside my men as well."

Louise bit her lower lips before continuing, "Forgive my impoliteness, Your Highness, but there are a few things I must say..."

"Go on," the prince agreed quizzically.

"When the princess had assigned me this task, she had the look of a worried lover... inside that box, you had a picture of Her Highness, and your expression was depressed after parting with this letter... are the princess and you...?"

Prince Wales smiled and paused before speaking, "Indeed, we are... _were_ lovers. As you must have guessed, what you hold is the princess' love letter to me," he paused again, "Should this letter be passed onto the Royal Family of Germania, then there will be no alliance for Tristain. Please, make sure that does not happen, Miss Valliere."

"I promise... but you two are still in love... _you_ are still in love with the princess, are you not?" Louise's voice was rising.

The man shook his head, "It is a love that cannot be."

"Please, Your Highness, come with us to Tristain!" the prince placed a hand on her shoulder but the pink-haired girl did not stop, "I beg of you, please!" the blond refuted her with a laugh but Louise continued with a cracking voice, "Your Highness, I disagree! I have known the princess since our childhood, I know very well how she thinks! And I know that Princess Henrietta does not desert the people she loves!"

"I am sorry, Miss Valliere, but for us royals, when it comes down to a choice between love or duty, then we must choose duty; it is our obligation as royals to do so," he paused with an audible breath, "Even Princess Henrietta understands that."

It was left silently unsaid, but by marrying the King of Germania and solidifying a alliance, that meant that Princess Henrietta had chosen duty. Such was the same with Prince Wales, who chose to fight the rebels to the bitter end, thus fight for his country instead of reuniting with his love.

Louise understood it but she hated it.

The two people were torn apart from one another, they were sacrificing their love for their country.

"It's wrong! This is all wrong!" Louise shook her head furiously, "Why?'! Why?'! Why?'! Why does it have to be this way?'!"

The prince smiled, "You are a most honest and kind girl, Miss Valliere. Thank you for your sentiments," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a watch, "Ah, it's almost time for the party. I hope you tw-, ah, three will attend it."

"A banquet for the end, Your Highness?" Wardes asked; he had moved in to hug the crying girl.

"Yes, it is, Viscount. We have reports that the rebels plan to attack tomorrow night. So, tonight will be the final peaceful day for us. We plan to enjoy it while we can."

After Louise stopped crying, she walked out into the hallway, no longer able to face the Prince of Albion. Wardes walked back in because he had a request to ask of from the prince.

...

It was a large party with nearly all 300 Albion Royalists in attendance. All of the participants were of now equal status; all 40 Nobles and 260 Commoners were now the best of friends. Nobles, Commoners, whatever, the status no longer mattered; the people chatted as equals, ate as equals, flirted as equals, dressed as equals, danced as equals, and would fight and die as equals.

Tonight was a grand feast.

The aged Albion King, James de Albion, weakly yet strongly rose off his throne, "I will tell all of you, my brave and loyal vassals, that tomorrow the rebels and Reconquista are planning to attack our Newcastle with the might of their full-force. You have all followed and fought for this incapable old king, and I thank for you for that, however tomorrow will not be a battle, it will be a one-sided slaughter. Those of us who choose to fight... Let us endure their attacks and show those rebels our pride and bravery!"

The aged king had a small coughing fit before continuing, "However, I know that it is too much to ask all of you to die. Thus, tomorrow morning the Eagle shall take all the woman and children and the ones who wish to leave to a safer place and far away from this forsaken country."

One rowdy person spoke up for the rest, "Your Majesty, we await your orders! '_Whole army, forward! Whole army, forward! Whole army, forward!_' Our hearing is so bad that I doubt any of us will be able to hear any other orders but that!" and the party-goers cheered in agreement.

To Louise, it was a brilliant atmosphere. The people interacted without regards to status and played around despite their coming final hours. It was so joyous, yet melancholic, that she ended up crying. She couldn't endure anymore and ran out of the castle's hall; the Overlord trailed behind.

...

Louise ran and ran and ran in the dimly lit hallways until she came across a single window. The moonlight was shining through with grace and beauty.

She stared out to the moon as her tears streaked down her flushed cheeks.

Minutes passed before she wiped her tears, and she spoke weakly without looking at him, "Sauthoth... those people... why? Why are they choosing to fight and die?"

The Overlord had heard many times from Gnarl, people in war tend to fight for riches and fame, honor and glory.

But personally? The Overlord didn't know; he had never strongly associated himself with other humans before, and so he honestly didn't understand why they did so.

"Even though the princess loves him... even though he loves her... why is he choosing death...?" she mumbled, "I should go... I need to persuade him... I must try... I have to...!"

The Overlord placed a hand over her head and gently ruffled her hair. He shook his head; '_they will not retreat_.'

_Heh._ Soft, indeed, Overlord. Soft, indeed.

She turned around to face him, "I want to go back to Tristain... I dislike this stupid country, these stupid people, that stupid prince; all of them... how can they all can act so happy when they're going to die tomorrow...? Why must they be... so... stubborn..."

The young girl was mentally exhausted and thus weakly fell asleep, the Overlord caught her and used his magic as a makeshift blanket to keep her warm.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

...

The next morning, a majority of the royalists were preparing to battle.

In the chapel, there were only a few armored guards stationed there and a single hooded person with a front row seat attending the wedding.

Yes, wedding. There was a wedding going on.

Crowned Prince Wales Tudor de Albion was the priest and was waiting for Louise and Wardes to appear. After the ceremony, he too, would prepare for the battle as well.

The door opened, and Louise, Wardes and the Overlord strolled through. The engaged couple went up onto the stage to face the prince, while the demi-god only stood a few paces behind his little master.

Louise was in a daze, partly because she didn't get a good night's sleep, partly because she was still half-asleep, and partly because her mind was still thinking about the prince and princess. She only vaguely recalled the events that lead up to this point, sentences like, '_It is time for our wedding, my dear Little Louise_,' or '_Her Highness will be disappointed by our report of Prince Wales, but let us give her goods new of our marriage_.' And she didn't even realize that she was wearing a bridal veil either.

The Overlord on the other hand was extremely focused. Wardes' scheming and treachery were at an all time high; whatever he was planning, it would happen soon.

"Well then, let us start the ceremony," the prince said. Though weddings were sacred, because of the situation at hand, the young royal did a very summarized and impromptu speech; heading straight for the vows.

"Does the groom, Viscount the Lightning Flash, Captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, Jean Jacques Francis de Wardes, wish to take this girl as his wife, and swear to respect and love her under the guidance of Founder Brimir?"

The mage knight nodded, "I swear."

"And does the bride, third daughter of the Valliere, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, also wish to take this man as her husband, and swear to respect and love him under the guidance of Founder Brimir?"

_~ Tick Tock ~ Click Clank ~ Tick Tock ~ Click Clank ~ Tick Tock ~ Click Clank ~_

Louise's mind was slowly churning itself back into order.

She was in the middle of a wedding... yes... _her_ wedding, and her partner was Wardes, even though the marriage was something their fathers had arranged, she had always loved... no, she had always had a crush on him, and now her childish dream was finally becoming a reality.

Yet she felt so empty inside.

She was living the dream of every young maiden but she could not feel a tinge of happiness inside of her.

The proud Royal Family of Albion was dying and turning into ruins. Her childhood friend, Princess Henrietta would lose her lover, and Prince Wales was giving up his love and hopes to die.

Those were terrible things that dampened her mood, yet they should not affect her own happiness.

So why? What was holding her back?

Her eyes drifted to Wardes' own and then she realized, in a strange moment of clarity, '_I see no love in for me in those eyes_.'

"Miss Bride, is there anything wrong?"

Louise shook her head and gave a wry smile, "I am sorry, Wardes, but I cannot marry you."

Wardes looked puzzled, "Louise, is there something wrong? If today is a bad day, then another tim-"

If trying to get a girl to marry you right before a slaughter doesn't count as a 'bad day' then I don't what does. Clearly my common sense is out of tune.

"I apologize, but I do not want to marry you, Wardes."

"... You are just nervous, my Little Louise, you cannot be seriously refusing my of-"

"I am truly and utterly sorry, Wardes, but I cannot and do not want to marry you. I had once yearned for you, maybe I had even loved you... and perhaps you had even once loved me too... But now it is different, our hearts have grown too far apart."

The mage knight's face remained cool in expression but it was clear that his emotions were angry as his face became a bright red. He gripped Louise's shoulder and spoke feverishly, "The world, Louise! I will rule the world! And you are necessary for that, you are necessary for me! Your abilities and your powers!" he shook her, "Louise, have you forgotten what I have told you? You are not inferior, not even to Founder Brimir, you will grow up and become a excellent and powerful mage someday! You just don't realize it yet! That talent you possess!"

Louise was scared and trembling, her image of Wardes was breaking. The man was becoming a terrifying, cold, and angry person before her eyes.

The Overlord was just about ready to jump in, but not yet, he had to hold himself back; he needed more, much more. Wardes flipping the exploding dwarf out wasn't enough. He needed something that would make the man completely irredeemable in his young master's eyes before he could strike down that bastard.

Wales stepped in, "Viscount, that is enough. Behave like a gentlema-"

But Wardes struck his hand, "Shut up!" and continued to harassed Louise.

Louise grimaced in pain as the man's hand tightened, "I would rather die than marry you! I understand now, the reason I see no love in your eyes, it is because you only want the magical powers that you insanely think I have. That is cruel. To marry someone for such a reason... it is an insult!"

Prince Wales stepped in again but was pushed down, he stood back up in obvious red, "You! To show such rudeness! Viscount Wardes, I command you to release Miss Valliere from your grip, right now, or else I shall separate you by force if I must!"

Wardes took a step back and had a fake and dangerous smile on his face. He chuckled, "I suppose it cannot be helped. I guess I will have to give up on this objective."

"This objective?" the strawberry blond parroted tensely.

The griffin knight's smile savagely widened, "That's right, Louise, there were three objectives for me to achieve during this trip of ours. Sadly, I only managed two of them."

"Achieve? Two? W-What are you talking about?" freezing shivers were traveling down her spine, as her mind worked at full-power to figure out the meaning behind the man's words.

The mage knight raised a hand with three fingers up. He bent down his ring-finger, "The first was you, my Little Louise, I had to make you mines, but it seems that I won't be able to accomplish that anymore."

"Obviously not!" she shouted indignantly.

He continued by bending his middle-finger, "The second is in your pocket, Henrietta's Letter."

She blinked. Her mind was connecting the dots too slowly.

But Prince Wales realized the final objective instantly. Unfortunately, in the face of danger, like most mages, his body tensed up and immediately went to casting a spell instead of running away first.

Wardes whipped out his sword wand in the blink of an eye.

_BA-DUMP!_

And then it was Wardes turn to blink and connect the dots. There was a stone wall before him that blocked his strike.

'_Wha-_' was all he managed to utter before the Overlord grabbed him by his head and bashed his skull into the chapel wall.

Up in the front row stood a laughing hooded woman. She pulled down her hood and her green hair fell down. She had something in between a sneer and a maniac grin.

It was Miss Longueville, well, Fouquet in this case.

No, no, no, no, no!

Wait a gods slaying damn, how the heck did she get here? Is there some kind of plot-hole going on?

Sorry, sorry, gotta interrupt the story until I figure this out.

Narrator powers, activate!

_Ho hum~_

Saw heroes leaving with Wardes... got a ride from Kirche and Tabitha but dropped off early... watched heroes look for a airship... stalked Wardes and saw him hiring mercenaries... snuck on Maria Galante during the the hotel raid... blended in with the Eagle's crew... snuck into Newcastle... got a front row seat in chapel...

Oh. Um... wow. I forgot you were suppose to be a profession thief.

Why are you eve- Oh, right, grudge. Did you really want to see him die before your eyes that badly?

...

Well, let's ignore the shock and awe and resume to our scheduled program: Wardes getting the life beaten out of him.

It was suppose to be a simple plan really. All Wardes needed to do was marry Louise then leave her to Gryffindor for abit, return to kill Wales when nobody was looking, and then secretly take the letter with anybody none the wiser.

Heck, even if he couldn't marry Louise and his plans were revealed, all he needed to do was kill Wales right then and there, take the letter, and then escape before the demi-god familiar had enough time to react and kill him.

But nope, luck wasn't on his side.

The prince is alive and unharmed. The letter is in his ex-fiancee's pocket. And his head was now being melded with the wall.

Literally.

The Overlord was slowly emitted pure heat from his hands and melting the man's head. Wardes screamed at the intensity of the torture and struggled with all his might. He would have died a painful death, had Louise not interrupted.

"Sauthoth!" his little master shouted, "Stop!"

Right now, she was feeling hatred towards the mage knight, but still, she didn't believe that the traitor deserved a slow roasting death.

"Just... finish him. No torture," she quietly said with her head turned around.

The Overlord squeezed his fist and the man known as Viscount Wardes died.

The demi-god cleaned up the mess with cleansing fire and thus the person known as the Lightning Flash was no more.

Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

...

Everybody in the chapel was shocked. The prince, the Valliere, and the four guards; only Fouquet and the Overlord were enjoying their handiwork and so the attentions were on them.

The guards rushed to prince to put him under their encircling protection, the Overlord simply walked back to Louise, and Fouquet moved besides the demi-god.

"Who are you?" the prince spoke.

"Me?" Fouquet said still in giddy joy, "Ah, my name is Longueville and I'm a secretary at Tristain's Academy of Magic, and partner of Sir Familiar here," she brushed her hair back, "I wasn't helping you specifically, Prince, I just promised my partner that I would keep Miss Valliere safe from danger, that's all."

Wales didn't look convince. Then again, Fouquet's disdain for Albian nobles was showing quite prominently despite her jovial mood.

The ex-thief smiled, "Don't worry, I just had some personal business with the Viscount as well. Nothing that concerns you anyways."

"Miss Longueville..." muttered Louise, here was another person whose image completely changed before her eyes.

There was a short silence before the prince spoke, "I appreciate the help nonetheless. You saved my life, thank you, Miss Longueville."

She snorted, "I don't want your thanks, Prince, especially not from somehow who was planning to die in battle anyways," and placed a hand on her hips, "What _I_ want is to know what you plan to do next."

"Curious. I get the impression that you hate me," the young royal commented dryly.

"I do," she said easily, "but I hate the rebels and Reconquista even more. And speaking of them, it's clear what their two objectives are, Prince: the letter and you. The letter is quite obvious, as you should know. So why _you_ specifically, oh Crown Prince of Albion~?"

Wales simply frowned.

Fouquet laughed, "Then let me make it simple for you to understand, Prince. Newcastle has the highest concentration of Royalist Forces, and by destroying your final stronghold, the rebels could take over Albion regardless of whether you live or not. In fact, should you survive, you wouldn't even be a threat, no other country would risk themselves to 'liberate' Albion just to put you back on the throne, because if they cared or had the power to, then they would have already intervened in this civil war."

She chuckled and continued, "You aren't capable of receiving help anymore from your fellow Albians either, Prince. All 300 people here in Newcastle are the de facto Royalists. You might have sympathizers on the outside but they won't raise a finger to help you. They're cattle, they'll just follow the leader as long as they aren't personally involved in the war."

"Your point?"

She sighed, "There is a specific reason the rebels, or more likely Reconquista, wants you dead. I don't know what it is but it obviously involves more than just making sure you're dead; they probably have a plan to use your corpse somehow," she looked at the royal seriously, "As the Viscount said, they had two important objectives to complete here: your death and the letter. The letter would have destroyed any chances Tristain would have in forming an alliance with Germania, and your death would have probably pushed the princess to wage a war of revenge against Albion, which would justify the rebel's invasion of Tristain. Two birds with one stone, as the saying goes."

Wales grimaced as he absorbed and sorted out all the information.

"Personally, Prince," Fouquet continued sternly, "I hate the rebels and Reconquista. I have as much pay-back to give them as I did for the Viscount. If they needed to complete two main objectives here, then I'd rather let them have none of them than half of them."

"You want me to run away," the blond man summed up.

Fouquet raised her wand, "Even if I have to do it by force."

The prince was about to respond but he was knocked out by his guards.

One of them spoke, "Please take the prince," he said as he placed the royal in the woman's arm.

The ex-thief quirked a brow, "Oh? Just like that? I thought you would put up more of a fight."

The guard chuckled, "What you say makes sense, Miss. We know that those damn Rebels won't stop with us. Sooner or later, Tristain, Gallia, Germania, and Romalia must act, and when they do, we hope that the Valiant Prince will be returned to his throne. We cannot allow the Royal Family of Albion to end with us. His sentiments of fighting with us is enough, that is all the strength we need to carry into this battle."

Fouquet brushed back her hair, "You realize that the future king of Albion would need loyal retainers, such as yourself, to rule, don't you?"

Another guard, a woman, chuckled, "Well then, wish us luck."

The castle shook and the roars of men shouting, weapons clanging, magic exploding, horses stampeding, and dragons flying could be heard raging outside the chapel walls.

The guards looked at each other before the first one spoke again, "The Eagle should have escaped during the start of the battle, but we shall open up a path for you all to escape, so please escort the prince to safety."

SUDDENLY, MOLE PEOPLE!

Oh, no wait, it's just Verdandi. And Guiche.

Their heads popped right out of the ground next to Louise.

"Geh! What are you doing here, Guiche? No, how did you get in here? Albion is a floating continent! Floating! Continent!" Louise growled. So many shocking twists within the last fifteen minutes were not good for her health.

Kirche's head popped up, "We flew up with the help of Tabitha and Sylphid, of course! We arrived at Albion with no problems, but none us had a map or even know where to go... so when Guiche's familiar started digging all of sudden, we just followed it."

The mole was sniffing the Water Ruby.

No, wait, seriously? The mole tracked the ring on a floating island? I... I am impressed and utterly dumbfounded by such a convenient revelation.

"Alright, here we go!" Fouquet shouted as she threw Prince Wales and then Louise into the hole.

"What are you doing?'!" the pink head yelled.

The green-haired secretary knocked on the Overlord's armor with a grin, "Go and get out of here, Miss Valliere, the prince and the letter are in your hands now."

"W-What? You want me to escape and abandon the two of you?'!"

She snorted, "I highly doubt that Miss Tabitha's dragon will be able to hold all of us," she said knocking on the Overlord again, "and your familiar here probably won't be able to charter a ride back to Tristain without my help. Besides, I have some unfinished business here in Albion, so we're going to have to part ways here."

The ex-thief casts a simple Transmutation to control the earth and cover up the hole to stop the young girl from arguing back.

...

Only six people remained inside the chapel: four guards, a demi-god, and an ex-thief.

"So here's the deal, Partner, I just helped protect your little master from that bastard Wardes, so I want you to return the favor. Remember that orphanage I told you about? Well, I've left them here in this shit-hole of a country long enough, I am not letting them stay in this war-torn country any longer; we are going to get them out of here."

Fouquet paused before continuing, "By now the castle is probably swarming with Rebels; so protect me. And maybe we can escape with a few Royalists," she said with a devilish grin.

The Overlord pulled out his blade just as the chapel doors burst opened and a flood of enemy soldiers rushed in.

...

Sylphid was carrying a heavy load; her master, a red head, a playboy, a giant mole, a prince, and a strawberry blond girl, while speeding away from the White Country.

Louise held on tightly to Henrietta's letter in her left breast pocket, while Guiche and Kirche kept the unconscious prince from falling. The mission was completed but she had ended up leaving behind her familiar and the academy's secretary.

She turned to face the floating island as it faded from view and heard the loud thunderous roars of over a hundred cannon-fire.

That day, Newcastle and the Royalists had fallen.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Albion_ - One of the five countries of Halkeginia, it is a floating continent theorized to have an untapped amount of windstones, and is the smallest of the five. Albion has a densely high population, are the only ones to grant Archduke titles, and have the most superior Sky Navy. They are famously known for their species of Fire Dragons, which are greatly resistant to the hot and cold temparatures, much stronger and bigger in size, and have a smaller upkeep compared to average.

Albion is known as 'the White Country' due to the fact that pure white clouds cover the bottom of the floating island, and that it seasonally experiences only two weather: Spring and Winter. Because the continent tends to stay far away in the Perseus Sea, it has a cooler temperature and a unusual weather pattern; its Spring, Fall, and Winter are 'Winter' and its Summer is 'Spring.' Thus the island is covered in snow nearly all-year-long, even during 'Spring.'

The Royal Family of Albion's colors are 'White with Purple and Blue trims' and their symbol is 'a Sword with Eight Wings.'

_Earth Wall_ [Dot Earth] - 'A defensive wall of earth.' - _"Oh grand earth, the soil of which I stand upon! Rise in my defense! Earth Wall!"_

* * *

**Author Notes_  
_**

For some reason Chapter 13 wasn't displaying despite being uploaded, so I uploaded this chapter early to see if that fixed the problem. Since you're reading my notes, that means that it worked.


	15. Strawberry Without The Knight

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Fifteen - Strawberry Without The Knight

* * *

That day, early in the morning, the mighty fortress known as Newcastle and the Royalists Forces of Albion had fallen to the Rebels and Reconquista in less than an hour.

But let it be known that it was a terrible victory for the rebellion to achieve.

50,000 heavily armed Rebel Troops with the support of the battle-airship Lexington had stormed Newcastle against a mere 300 Royalists.

Yet, by using the natural choke-points inside the fortress, the tenacious Royalists were able to magnificently hold their own. For every one Royalist there were six to seven rebels killed and thirteen to fourteen more injured; the Rebels suffered a total of 2000 deaths and 4000 injured from a small handful of Royalists.

However, that was the not the end of the nightmare for the Rebel Forces.

By using their superior numbers, the Rebels were able to exhaust or simply overrun their fortified opponents. Within twenty minutes of battle, more than two-thirds of the Royalists were slain; the aged king amongst them. Pressing further inside, they continued with their forward momentum and then came to a full stop.

In one section of Newcastle there was a chapel, it was considering the holiest place in the entire fortress and was even said to have been blessed by Founder Brimir himself.

But what they found in that long hallway that lead to the chapel was death and despair for the incoming Rebels. The entire hallway was scorched black and the air was thick with the ashes of the burnt. A frightfully large black knight that commanded fire at his whim defended the door to the chapels and prevented any of them from advancing any further; whether it was common foot-soldiers or army mages, none could wound the knight nor force it to retreat.

When the final remnants of the Royalists were seen retreating into the chapel, the black knight stirred.

And there was nothing that survived its warpath path.

In a brutal twenty-minutes, the tactic that had allowed the Rebels to overwhelm the Royalists became a suicide run; 1000 men rushed the black knight upon sight and 1000 men died to the black knight without a prayer.

As the realization settled in about the existence of the Black Knight, fear and panic spread amongst the Rebel Forces and their morale took a heavy blow. Pandemonium spread and they escaped the fortress in a stampede causing an additional 500 deaths and 1000 injured.

When the terrifying news was delivered to the Lexington of an unstoppable knight slaughtering their troops within the castle-walls, the warship had reluctantly decided to unleashed its full barrage of cannons and utterly turned the once proud fortress of Newcastle into a pile of rubble; burying all those who could still be inside.

They had expected an easy victory, to raise their flag atop the fortress of Newcastle, but that dream was entirely shattered.

In the end, the 50,000 Rebel Forces suffered 3500 deaths and 5000 injured; a casualty report of nearly one-tenth of its army against a small force of 300 and one unidentified warrior.

Rumors spread amongst the survivors of the battle.

The higher-ups of the Rebels had tried to demonize the Royalists by saying that they had sold their souls to demons and that the black knight was a result of that.

However, all that fell short in the face of facts.

The black knight had protected the Royalists. The black knight had defended the chapel. The black knight had fought the Rebels. The Lexington utterly annihilated Newcastle.

And yet the chapel remained.

It was the only room left standing from the thunderous destruction and was practically unscathed.

What's more, the Crowned Prince Wales Tudor de Albion could not be found nor could the Black Knight. They had both simply vanished without a trace.

The survivors whispered, '_we have angered Founder Brimir and caused his wrath to descend upon us_' or '_look at the signs, t__his rebellion is clearly a mistake_' or '_the Black Knight is Death itself_' and were left utterly bitter.

That day, Newcastle had fallen, the Royalists had scattered, the Rebels had won, and reported appearances of the Black Knight haunted the lands of the new Albion regime.

...

Well, enough of the after-action report, let's return back to the present.

Our heroes, dear readers, have just escaped from Newcastle with the Crown Prince in tow. Is it a kidnapping or a rescue? I'll let you decide where the technicality leans.

Anyways, Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche sat on the back of the Wind Dragon Sylphid while the mole Verdandi was delicately taking a ride in the scaly-beast's jaws. A thunderous roar of cannon-fire can be heard as they flew further and further away from Albion.

Eventually they reached their destination, the Royal Palace of Tristain in the capital city of Tristain known as '_Tristainia_.' They had two important things to safely deliver: Princess Henrietta's Letter and the unconscious Crowned Prince Wales Tudor de Albion.

There were rumors going about that Albion's rebellion could possibly spill into Tristain, or darker ones of an invasion, thus the patrolling Manticore Knights who were on duty were rather skittish. So when our speeding unidentified party refused to stop over the capital's airspace, they were lucky that the knights didn't shoot them down on sight.

I mean, that would have been terrible. A strawberry blond, a red hair, a blue head, a blond, a prince, a dragon, and a mole falling out of the sky would have definitely made for a horrible joke or story to tell.

Our heroes landed in the palace courtyard and were quickly surrounded.

Louise was utterly depressed. She had almost married a utter scum-bag, and condemned said scum-bag to death without a proper trial in Tristainnian court, and then she escaped without her guardian familiar and the school's secretary. So she wasn't in a good mood when the commander of the patrol was blocking her way from reporting to the princess.

Their argument escalated to the point where the commander shouted, '_ARREST THEM!_' with wands at their ready and incantations at the tip of their tongues.

Louise had just three-fourth of a mind to whip out her wand and cause a ruckus when the princess herself came running down the stairs.

"Louise! Louise Francoise!" the royal shouted.

The pink head's mood improved dramatically to the point where she forgot her current position and simply ran up to the princess. They embraced each other in a warm hug.

It was an odd and unexpected sight for everybody there.

"Ah, you have returned safely, my dear friend, I'm so glad. Oh Louise, my dear Louise Francoise..."

Our heroine gave a smile, "The letter is safe...," and with a gesture of her arm, "and so is Prince Wales."

Henrietta's eyes darted straight to the dragon to see the sleeping prince lying gently on its back. It took much of her strength not to run straight towards him but she did place a hand to her mouth and shed light tears.

"Oh Louise, you truly are my best and greatest friend."

"Your words are too kind, Your Highness."

The young woman lightly shook her head, "No, if anything, it is not kind enough. I had truthfully expected for the Prince to stubbornly sacrifice himself for his kingdom and refuse my request of coming to Tristain for asylum," her lips curled upward slightly, "I see that you had to be alittle rough with him though, Louise Francoise," she said teasingly.

The strawberry blond simply cleared her throat.

The princess wiped her tears and examined the group once again. She blinked, "Ah, I do believe that I do not see Viscount Wardes amongst your group," she tilted her head, "or your familiar."

Yeah, it's sorta hard to miss the twelve foot person clad in black armor from head-to-toes that makes manticore knights look like run-of-the-mill dungeon-fodder.

Louise bit her lower lips at some unpleasant memories, "...Wardes was a traitor," and the next words uneasily came off her tongue, "and my familiar had chosen to cover our escape."

A shadow crept up on Henrietta's face, but before she said anymore, a cough from her guards alerted her attention. She saw how tensed they were and immediately dismissed them. But ordered the commander to secure Wales.

The princess then turned to face the pink-haired girl, "Please follow me to my room, Louise, you can explain everything there," next she addressed the rest of Louise's party, "You all must be Louise Francoise's friends, I must thank you for assisting her through out her mission. You all deserve a reward, but please, come in and have a rest first."

...

The strawberry blond and the chestnut purple were now inside the royal's room.

Princess Henrietta de Tristain sat down on a small chair with an elbow resting on the nearby desk. Louise was urged to take a chair and have a seat of her own.

Louise collected herself and began her explanation. It was an informal report.

The meeting with Viscount Wardes, the ambush by some robbers, and Kirche and Tabitha coming to the rescue. The marriage proposal from Wardes, the duel between the viscount and her familiar, and the assault from the horde of mercenaries. The commandeering of the Marie Galante and the meeting with the Eagle and Prince Wales disguised as pirates. Her discussion with the prince concerning the letter and the grand final party of the Royalists... her own terrible wedding... and how the prince was saved and how the traitorous viscount had died.

And, lastly, how she had escaped with the prince but consequently left behind her familiar.

Henrietta took a deep breath. There was a long silence as she juggled all the new information and sorted it out.

"To think that the Viscount was a traitor... How could that be? To have a member of Reconquista so high up in the military..."

"Reconquista?" Louise parroted.

"Oh, sorry, please, it is nothing for you to worry about, Louise."

"Princess," Louise said in tone that pretty much indicated that she was going to push this no matter.

The royal gave a smile that was almost but not quite wry, "Reconquista... that is the name of our true enemy. It is the group that pushed the Albian nobles into rebellion. They have immense ambition... they wish to unite all of Halkeginia to fulfill their grand goal of liberating the Holy Lands."

"They wish to fight against the Elves?" inquired the shocked Valliere.

"Indeed, by gathering together all of Halkeginia's forces, they hope to overwhelm the abilities of the elves through sheer numbers. They have no real trump card to defeat the Ancient Magic of the Elves... yet the prideful but foolish nobles will follow such propaganda because that is the Will of Founder Brimir," the princess' eyelids drooped ever so slightly, "Even here in Tristain there are nobles who support Reconquista. They believe me a witch for not following along."

Ironic isn't it? The same goal, ideology, drives them all yet it is the very thing tearing them apart. Oh, no wait, that's just how life is.

"But enough of that," the princess firmly said, "Louise, my dear Louise Francoise, I have both placed your life in great danger and have caused you to suffer a great deal during this trip," she lightly bowed, "I must apologize for that."

"Princess, please, don't say that, I am only happy to have been of help to you," the pink head weakly waved her hands.

"But it is because me of that you were force to leave behind your fa-"

"Your Highness," Louise addressed firmly, "My familiar will return to me. _Not_ because he is my familiar, a familiar of a Valliere, but because he had _chosen_ to become my familiar, to become the familiar of Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. I wish to return that favor, to become a master truly worthy of such a humble familiar, as such, I have faith that he will return to me soon. So please, do not look so worried for me, I will be fine. Besides, a smile suits you better, Princess."

"Yes, you are right, Louise, for all that you have done for me, I should be smiling at your success."

The two girls smiled at one another and switched topics. They happily began chatting about the past.

...

A full day of rest later, our heroes flew back to Tristain Academy of Magic.

They were also several gold bags heavier.

The Princess had originally wanted to award Louise, Kirche, and Guiche with the title of Chevalier and Tabitha with the Elven Medallion, but because of the secret nature of the mission, she couldn't award such things without public justification. Instead she had to opt out and give them 1500 New Gold for their services.

Not that our heroes really minded at all; 1500 New Gold was still alot of money even for nobles.

Anyways, Louise, Kirche, Guiche, and Tabitha rode on Sylphid's back, meanwhile the mole Verdandi was digging her way back.

Kirche had tried prodding for information about what happened after the hotel incident but Louise was intentionally vague, thus the red head was shaking her book lover friend for comfort. The unbalanced driver meant a shifty dragon and Guiche promptly fell off.

Nobody cared to notice, of course.

And if you're wondering, readers, the young blond gently survived with a use of Levitation and had to walk back the rest of the way all by his lonesome.

Pink head Louise was thinking about the Overlord and Miss Longueville when a voice suddenly entered her head.

The pink head 'G_ah!_' at the sudden intrusion and almost fell off the flying dragon. Kirche looked curiously at the strange outburst but we'll ignore her reactions to seeing Louise seemingly talking to herself in a trance.

"News I have, Master," it was Snarl, "The Red Minions, found them I did."

"Eh? That voice... ah, it's you! That disgusting goblin thing! And who are you calling '_master_'?"

"Snarl, my name is. An old Green and Minion Master, I am. Master you are, as the overlord bids."

"'_Overlord_'? Ah, you mean Sauthoth?"

"Ridiculous, that name is. But yes, the one indeed."

See, someone agrees with me.

Who comes up with these names? Seriously?

Louise scratched her cheeks, "Hmm, okay... So, what do you want? Actually, how are you talking to me right now?"

"Scrying, the well-portal can achieve. Overlord not with you, I see, thus report to you, until return he does."

"Oh, is that so? So those... '_Reds_,' you mentioned," she tilted her head, "What about them? What are they?"

"Minions, they are, such like the Browns, you see. Four there should be, but missing are the other three. But the Reds, found them I have."

"And that's a good thing?" Louise asked quizzically.

"Yes, it would be."

"Then where are they?"

"Imprisoned by ogres, they are. Near the Black Spire, their tribe is. As dangerous as orcs, they can be. And rivalry with orcs, they have."

Several _dotdotdotdotdot_ later...

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Retrieve them," the Minion Master said perfectly without a hint of utter displeasure at dealing with a young master.

"Eh?" Louise sounded dryly, "Why?"

"Retrieve the Minions, responsibility of the master and overlord it is."

"Ah..." she uttered, "Sauthoth would have done it, huh?" the strawberry blond looked at the forgotten Devil Bringer that fit snugly her left hand.

In less than a month she had summoned a powerful familiar, encountered the gigantic golem of a notorious thief, and went on a dangerous journey for a letter that would decide the fate of her country; she's done all of that and yet she feels that she hasn't gotten even one-step closer to becoming a real mage or a worthy master.

"Void..." she mumbled. If her element really was such a thing, and that her familiar knew of it and gave her this gauntlet, then doesn't that mean that he's trying to unlock her potential? Well, if that's the case, then sitting around doing nothing wouldn't get her anywhere.

Louise clenched her fist, having made her decision, and turned to face the book lover, "Tabitha, I have a favor to ask."

...

Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Sylphid were about a forty-minute walk away from the academy. They were standing before a slightly glowing circular formation of white-stones, that is to say, a Tower Gate.

Since they haven't reported back to the school yet, the headmaster is still granting them freebie days. And by '_them_,' I mean Louise and Guiche; Kirche and Tabitha weren't excused. Louise, on the other hand, could skip a few more days of class without any problems.

Still, she was expecting a two-to-three-hour ride on Sylphid to get to the Black Spire, not standing in front a strange formation of rocks in the place she had first summoned her familiar.

"Ah? What the heck is this?" the pink head asked, "When did this get here?"

"It's a Tower Gate," answered Kirche, "I don't know the exact details but apparently your familiar created it on the day he cleared out all those orcs," she teasingly said the next line, "You obviously wouldn't know, Louise, because you fainted that day~"

"Zerbst," she lightly growled before crossing her arms, "and this '_Tower Gate_' is suppose to do what exactly...?"

"Just step on it, Louise."

She listened to the red head's suggestion and waltzed right on top of the circle. The stones illuminated and enveloped her in a bright light, '_WHA?_' was all she could let out before being forcibly teleported away.

...

Louise opened her eyes and noticed that she was standing in the Throne Room of the Black Spire.

'_Was that teleportation?'!_' she thought to herself. She had read theories and stories on it but this was her first time actually seeing it work, let alone experience it. What other amazing secrets did this spire hold?

Well, for now, Snarl and several fully-armed brown minions stood before her. They have been waiting for her for quite awhile now.

The Minion Master tapped his cane to the floor and caught the pink head's attention.

"First lesson of being master, begin now it does."

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Military Factions_ - The Halkeginia military is generally divided into two main war-time armies.

First is the _Royal Army_, this is the group dedicated solely to protecting the Royal Family, thus only take their commands from the Royals themselves, and generally serve as a last line of defense and therefore do not personally fight in wars. Their members are mostly other nobles.

Second is the _National Army_, often called the Marquis Army, this is the group that functions as the primary army. They are mostly just soldiers under the command of a local Marquis and Marquise, and thus their allegiance lie first with their lord and lady. Their members are mostly commoners.

Within the Royal Army there are two main sub-divisions: The _Sky Navy_ and the _Imperial Guards_. The difference between the Royal Army and these sub-divisions is that while a majority of the Royal Army does not participate in battle, the Sub-Divisions often work closely with the National Army.

The Sky Navy controls all military warships and generally serve to protect the airspace of their nation. During times of peace, most of the larger warships are grounded, while the smaller ones are used as escorts for either important personnel or cargo.

The Imperial Guards are a group of many smaller sub-divisions. They are technically the most famous military group because they consist of the Dragon Knight Corps, the Griffin Knight Corps, and the Manticore Knight Corps. Informants, spies, and other non-standard divisions generally fall into this group as well. For example, Tristain utilizes a special Musketeer Corps, an all-female commoner division that fights with only a sword and pistol and are considered Princess Henrietta de Tristain's de facto guards.

In terms of chains of command, it is: _The Royal Army_ above _The Non-Standard Corps of the Imperial Guards_ above _The Sky_ _Navy_ above _The Rider Corps of the Imperial Guards _above _The National Army_.

* * *

**Author Notes**

This chapter feels odd, I don't know why. Probably the pacing, I guess.

Edit: Eh, pacing fixed? Atleast, I personally think the flow is much better now.


	16. Poke Poke Poke Them Ogre Blokes

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Sixteen - Poke Poke Poke Them Ogre Blokes

* * *

Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere had zero mastery over practical magic, but the intelligent girl was a quick study in theoretical magic and thus also a quick learner when all the information was readily available for her.

In the span of fifteen minutes, she had quickly learned how to control the Minions with the use of the Devil Bringer; learning simple techniques like '_Rush_,' '_Lock On_,' '_Sweep_,' '_Marker_,' '_Leader_,' and '_Retreat,_' along with some various terminologies concerning the Black Spire, such as '_Lifeforce_,' '_Minion Hives_,' and '_Minion Gates_.'

A short explanation of those techniques being:

_Rush_ was a simple directive that ordered her Minions to run in whatever direction she pointed at and then go about their business of breaking stuff, looting stuff, and killing stuff before returning back to her.

_Lock On_ was a command for her Minions to focus solely on a single specific target, while disregarding everything else in their way, before returning back to her.

_Sweep_ was a technique were she directly controlled the entire horde to move along a path she directed.

_Marker_ was a skill to separate her Minions into different groups to defend key locations or to simply stay out of the way.

_Leader_ meant that she controlled exactly one minion to do to her bidding without endangering the rest.

And _Retreat_ was exactly as the name suggested, she could call back her Minions one at a time or all at once.

Sure, it wasn't magic as she had hoped, but atleast she was learning something productive with her time.

However, her maximum horde size was currently limited at a grand total of ten minions; five from her Devil Bringer and five from a Minion Pillar that was mysteriously granted when the Spire Heart was activated.

Ten minions would have been good enough if it weren't for the fact that her first real opponents were going to Halkeginia Ogres, creatures that resembled fatty layered and bulky humans that are just as disgusting and dangerous as Halkeginia Orcs.

While Louise apparently had accessed to the 1000 Brown Lifeforce that the Overlord had thrown into the Spire Heart for her use one day, that wasn't particularly helpful when her horde size was so small and that she would most likely be unable to depend on the freshly spawned minions from a faraway Minion Gate in the heat of battle to protect her.

"Quick study, you are, young master," Snarl noted about the pink-haired girl.

The group was out training in the town of Valois and the target was another Brown who was granted the extreme 'honored privilege' of becoming the jester and that Minion's name was Harley.

Harley was peculiarly odd when it was born, it always had this strange look in its eyes and a smile always bared wide on its face. Snarl deemed it fit to play the role of jester; if jester involved being more horrifyingly creepy than affably evil, then yes, Harley made a terrific jester.

Harley looked more like a demented clown than a laughable jester. It had a wig that was dirty green, wore white make-up all over its face, with black eye-shadows and red lipsticks surrounding the bare outlines of its sinister grin; All ransacked from one of the already ransacked houses of Valois.

Also a very creepy laugh. It makes Snarl's laugh sound like the purr of a newborn kitten.

Louise really had no qualm ordering her minions to kill it; Kirche, and even Tabitha, showed absolute approval in her decision.

Unfortunately, Harley was still hiding it out somewhere in Valois...

Anyways, because of her extreme motivation to hurt something, the strawberry blond had easily grasped the in-and-outs of minion control, especially in crowded areas.

"Ready for ogres, you should be."

"Ready? With these?" Louise gestured incredulously to the ten heavily armed Brown Minions. As tough looking as they were, ten of them didn't make her feel anymore secure against fighting savage ogres.

"Lacking in deviousness and resourcefulness, you are. Trial by fire, it shall be," the elder green sneered.

The pink head frowned. This didn't sound good at all.

...

So, before we move on, allow me, dear readers, to describe abit about Halkeginia Ogres.

They're alot like Halkeginia Orcs: big, ugly, tribal, faster than they look, and utterly savage.

Just like the Orcs, Ogres are categorized under '_Mockelem_,' as in '_mocking golems_,' since Halkeginia view of them is that they're outright malicious slander created by demons taken physical form; in other words: creatures of absolute pile of crap given life and meant to defame humanity and Founder Brimir 6000 years ago during the Age of Chaos.

In reality, both races can be called '_Sub-humans_' because they do they contain human ancestry, if only because pillage and rape wasn't particularly uncommon in those ancient times. As for their true origin, well, I didn't exist back then and my narrator powers don't go that far, so you're out of luck, dear readers.

Anyways, continuing on, Ogres are truly ugly things. If orcs look like green-skinned pigmen, then ogres look like fatty wrinkles in a humanoid shape. Really, they have layers of skin flaps laying over each other and look bulky, fatty, and old. Their face is one of the worst things to look at too; they're almost always bald, they have so much skin flaps that their eyes are forcibly shut closed, their noses are large slanted slits, and you definitely won't be able to tell where the mouth begins and the neck ends from all that flabby skin.

Basically, Ogres look alot like that one alien-slug crime lord from a galaxy far away from here, but only much much much more dirtier and uglier. And pinker; far worst than a lazy starfish's belly button.

Yet despite all this, their savagery and combat abilities can rival even the vicious orcs; they're absolutely nothing to laugh, cry in fear at maybe, but definitely not to laugh at.

In fact, it's generally considered a fate worst than death when caught by a ogre: a person will be beaten, defecated all over, raped, killed, and then eaten, and not necessarily in that order because ogres aren't picky. Horror stories describe the process as being so bad that people often say they would prefer being burned or skinned alive than be humiliated by a ogre.

And Louise is going out to fight those things?

When the heck did I start narrating a dark fantasy story?'!

...

Before the Black Spire was occupied by the orcs, apparently a nearby ogre tribe had raided the tower and stole the Red Minion Hive. They didn't live far from the tower either, residing in the same mountain range inside a giant dug out cave that was some forty minutes away on foot.

Of course, because they had intruded upon orc territory, the nearby orc tribes got together and attacked the ogre cave; because Mockelem races really hate one another.

The raid ended with the orcs retreating and suffering a huge lost of leadership; a majority of the lesser orcs were assimilated into the tribe that previously occupied the Black Spire and only a few different tribes still exist near Valois.

The ogres suffered pretty badly too and only managed to survive because of their home-field advantage. As it is now, this ogre tribe is probably no larger than fifteen members.

Meanwhile, our heroines consist of Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and ten heavily armed Brown Minions, and that's still not in favor for our heroines. Right now, they were waiting some distance outside of the cavern entrance.

Louise was standing with her arms crossed, "I appreciate your assistance, Zerbst," she said grateful and relieved but still with a tinge haughtiness.

"Oh don't mind me, Louise, I'm just interested in seeing those Reds I've heard about," the Germanian turned her head to look at the lazy-eyed brown, "They use fire, was it?"

"Reds make things burn!" it nodded enthusiastically with a salute.

You know, we really need to give that Brown minion a name. I'll let you decide that amongst yourself, dear readers.

"Ah~" Kirche sing-songed, "The imps have even learned how to use fire~! They're even red~! They must truly be the most useful of the bunch~!"

'_And yet they got captured_,' the pink head quipped to herself.

"We break stuffz!" "BREAK TEM GOODZ!" "Brownz smash thingz like pro!"

The goblin troopers voiced their collective thoughts together. Their pride was slightly injured at the thought that their red brethren could caused more devastation than they could. Clearly that red headed gal doesn't understand the fine art of breaking things.

"Is that so?" she quickly dismissed their claims.

The girls were strategizing on how to handle the ogres.

Typical ogre dwellings were very simple: they were just giant hollowed out caves; so one step into that entrance and a person would literally find themselves in the nest of the monsters with no place to hide.

"Ugh, these gob... Minions... won't serve as a good distraction at all!" Louise huffed, "We'll be out in the open!"

"We can try luring them out," Kirche suggested, she preferred tackling things head-on but alittle caution never hurt anybody every once in awhile, "We'll be able to prepare traps beforehand."

Tabitha nodded her head in agreement.

"How will we figure how many of them are in there?"

"Hmm~ Fighting a full tribe of ogres would be bad," the red head faced her book loving companion, "Tabitha, ogres shouldn't have anything to hit us with if we're flying in the sky, right?"

"Yes."

"That's good, we can just ride on Sylphid then," Kirche turned to face the strawberry blond, "Use your Browns to bait them. Those ogres would probably all just come running out at the sight of fresh prey like the savages they are."

Louise nodded, "I can do that."

"Alright then," the busty red head clapped her hands together, "The plan is settled~"

...

There wasn't much time to set-up real traps. Atleast, not with the subtlety that is fire or ice; if Guiche was here then his earth element and bronze valkyries would have been very useful.

So the girls chose to rain death from above after luring the ogres out into open and were thus flying about five stories above the ground.

Louise pulled out her wand and gripped it with her left hand. She was hoping that using the wand in conjunction with the Devil Bringer might yield different results.

"Hmm~," the red head hummed, "What do you think you're doing, Louise? Won't it be difficult to control your little browns if you try casting magic?"

"I'm fine. They're like golems, once I give them a command they'll do the rest on their own."

"But you have never cast a single spell properly before, you know?"

Louise cleared her throat, she couldn't believe she was going to say this, "I may have a zero success rate for casting spells, but you know better than anybody that my explosions aren't anything to scoff at," she said with pride, embarrassment, and self-deprecation all in once.

So when did Louise realize her explosions could be useful?

Just now actually.

As fun as it is being able to control homicidal goblins, it's far too side-line antics for our proud little Valliere. Her pride demands her, that as of one of noble lineage, she must use magic. And failed spell or not, her resulting explosions are pretty powerful.

That, and that there's no way she was going to let a Zerbst do all the work. Valliere pride also demands that she never owes a Zerbst, no matter what.

Kirche blinked before giving off a bright smile, "Ah, of course~! How could I have forgotten such a simple fact~?" she pulled out her own wand, "Well now, we're ready anytime that you're ready, Louise."

The pink head nodded and waved her hand before pointing at the cave. It was a meaningless gesture since her control over the minions were telepathic but it was a habit earned from her schooling nonetheless.

A single brown rushed into the cave.

Several seconds quietly passed.

Then it came back out running, screaming, and flailing its arms about; five ogres were giving chase after the brown.

A small clearing later and a hail of ice, balls of fire, and spontaneous explosions assaulted the monsters. Five seconds of confusion spread amongst the hunters, then three seconds of realization that mages were firing from above in the sky, next was two seconds before they tried retreating, and then it was ten long seconds as they burned to death by fire or bleed to death from being impaled on ice or by tripping up from explosions then being humiliated by tiny creatures stabbing and cutting them down.

It was a successful surprise attack but Louise didn't receive an '_All clear!_' sign from her minions and they weren't beating the dead ogres anymore, so she assumed that a few more were still hiding inside the cave and tried baiting the rest.

It didn't work. The ogres weren't stupid, they knew it was a trap and refused to take the fight outside.

The girls landed close to the clearing.

"They won't come out," Louise pointed out the obvious.

"If they're hiding inside then there's probably not alot left of them. I'd say we just go in from the entrance. What about you, Tabitha?"

"Dark," the chevalier said, as in '_Dark enough to need light_,' and "Smoke," as in '_Let's smoke them out with Fire and Wind magic_.'

Kirche clarified for Louise before continuing, "It's a good plan, don't you think so, Louise?"

"It is," she nodded. Better to trust someone with real combat experience as a chevalier than not to.

...

Our heroines set-up themselves a fair distance away from the entrance.

Kirche created a simple fireball and started a fire from a bundle of sticks, thus the brown minions went about chaotically gathering firewood to feed the growing fire. Meanwhile Tabitha used a simple Gust spell to blow the smoke and ashes into the cave.

It would normally take a long time to properly suffocate the occupants of a cave of this size, but fifteen minutes into the plan and something strange happened: ten ogres on fire came running out.

The girls hastily scrambled for Syplid and took to the skies.

Eventually all the flaming ogres dropped dead as the browns ran up to perform a finishing beating before dancing on top of their charred corpses.

"Huh? What? Why were they on fire? Zerbst, did you do something?"

"Why, no, no I didn't."

"Reds," Tabitha threw in.

Kirche quirked a brow, "Ah, that's right. The Reds can apparently conjure up fire."

"Why didn't they just escape by themselves then?" Louise huffed and grumbled, "Making us do all this work..."

"Confusion," the book lover sounded, translated as '_The smoke confused the ogres from realizing that the Reds were using their fire magic and were caught-off guard_.'

"Well then, let's go in and have a look see at those Reds I've heard all about~!" Kirche said excitedly.

"Wouldn't there be alot of smoke inside?" again, Louise pointed out the obvious.

Tabitha quietly casts another Gust spell and cleared the air and path for them.

...

The girls, as in Kirche and Tabitha, were using the Candle Light spell to peer into the darkness and inside the cave was exactly a textbook example of a ogre dwelling.

It was big, round, dark, and pretty much empty of anything at all. Ogres didn't have much personal possessions; even orcs kept things around, if only to show off.

The only unusual exception was the giant pit in the center of the den with a couple of metal pikes stabbed into the ground looking over it and a criss-cross net of metal pikes covered over it.

It was a roasting pit, in other words.

The ten browns rushed over and quickly surrounded the pit before starting to rowdily cheer. Similar but slightly different cheers could be heard from inside the pit as well.

"The Reds must be in there~!" Kirche said as she strutted over to peer in to the pit.

Inside the pit was a black and red object that looked like a magmatic beehive, the Red Minion Hive, and surrounding it were the Red Minions.

They looked like the Browns with the same short stature and posture and glowing yellow eyes, but were red in coloration with more spiked features, had short tails and long goat-like horns protruding from their head, and a yellowish torso that glowed like fire. Their voices were the same high-pitch and low-tone voice but with a odd crackling effect.

The one dozen Reds were waving their arms around, jumping up and down, or fist-pumping the air.

"MASTUH!" they cheered when Louise peered over the edge.

The strawberry blond gave a heartfelt smile, the adrenaline of shooting down the ogres still rushed through her veins, and the feeling of accomplishment and pride welled up inside of her.

Yes, she completed this rescue with help. Yes, she still hasn't cast a single spell correctly. And yes, she wasn't sure if becoming the master of these goblins would lead her to becoming a great mage at all.

But.

The cheering acknowledgment that she was finally doing something right was a warm and welcomed feeling for her.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Gust_ - [Dot Wind] - 'A breeze or gust of wind.' - _"The flow and current of the winds! Pass through, Gust!"_

* * *

**Author Notes**

I procrastinated way too long before even starting this chapter. My apologies.

Also, Fanfiction's auto-correct is annoying. Apparently I can't put '_QuestionMark|ExclamationMark_' together anymore, so I'll have to settle for the odd '_?'!_' version instead. Consequently, I think the previous uploaded chapters were automatically affected even though I haven't changed them, but it's a tad troublesome to find all the changes, so I won't be going back to fix them.


	17. And The Days Go On

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Seventeen - And The Days Go On

* * *

That day the Red Minion Hive, and therefore the Red Minions as well, were joyously returned to the Spawning Pit. Much fun and partying was had by the Minions as the Reds settled back into the Black Spire.

Good and convenient things were also brought back to the tower, such as warm food and hot water.

Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha took a decent bath before separating into their different rooms to sleep.

Kirche and Tabitha were sleeping in rooms that were previously meant to be the mistress' room but had been renovated into being several general guest rooms instead.

Meanwhile, our strawberry blond heroine had a private room all to herself, one that was originally the previous original overlord's room, and it was slightly smaller and less grand than her own room back at Tristain's Academy of Magic but also far more roomier due to the lack of her own personal stuff.

Her private quarters contained a medium-sized bed, a desk and a chair, a drawer and closet, a mirror and other room-like things that were probably taken, and cleaned up, from the down-trodden and empty town of Valois.

It was a tad uncomfortable for her to know that she was going to have to sleep in a room that she deemed fit only for a commoner.

She took off the Devil Bringer and stared at it for a moment, her thoughts naturally wandered back to her familiar.

"I wonder when I'll see you again...?" she mumbled, "Will you think that I've grown up atleast alittle bit when you do...?"

She placed the gauntlet on the desk. Louise didn't feel quite safe without her big familiar around, and more importantly she felt lonely.

Other than Kirche and Tabitha, there really wasn't anybody that she could keep around her at school.

Tabitha simply tagged along with Kirche, so she was more like a friend of a friend, and Louise really didn't know her all too well either.

Speaking of Kirche, she was a Zerbst, and their two families had a long standing rivalry between them. There was simply no way that Louise would be caught dead calling the busty red head a friend in public, even if their relationship was becoming quite amicable lately.

That left Louise with her familiar, which, while she couldn't explicitly call him her friend because their relationship is viewed like Master and Pet, or Master and Servant in this case because of their apparent social standing, he is excused for staying near her because that's what a familiar is suppose to do.

Even though she only knew him for a short month, she felt that she had gotten particularly close to him, closer than most people she ever interacted with on a regular basis anyways. At times, he sorta felt like that protective grandfather that Louise never knew she had.

'_Stupid familiar... Come back soon_,' Louise muttered as she restlessly fell asleep.

...

And a new day starts.

Louise learns more about her Minions, in this case the Reds, and is taught how to use them in conjunction with the Browns.

Yet Harley is still a tricky bastard and evades all her attempts to murder it.

However, her maximum horde size was still only ten minions, so she couldn't really do much even with the new additions to her squad.

Anyways, about those Reds: they throw fireballs, they're immune to fire, and they can also absorb fire. However, they're much more physically fragile than Browns, meaning they're more fit for supporting fire than as front-line combatants.

In other words, the Browns are the Fighters and the Reds are the Archers.

Louise then spent abit of her day retrieving a Health Pillar. It was surprisingly just lying out on the road about three hours away from the Black Spire. Then again, the cart it was being hauled on was completely wrecked and nothing of value was actually stolen, so the riders probably had the unfortunate fate of meeting a band of Mockelems or something.

Snarl had shouted to her, '_Health increased, it has!_' but it didn't really make sense. What the heck did that mean? The pink head didn't really know.

Now, in case any readers are wondering how the gameplay mechanics of the Overlord Universe applies to Halkeginia, well, maybe 'health' isn't the right word. If anything, Louise has gotten hardier and can take more hits before wearing down, so she's now less of a squishier mage than she was just yesterday. Of course, the health increase is relative to the initial health the user has, so you could say that she's only about ten-percent sturdier than before.

Afterward, Snarl taught Louise abit about the Spire Objects. They were, well, objects that belonged to the Black Spire. Functionally speaking, they were connected to the Spire Heart thus also the Devil Bringer and by extension Louise herself too. Which made simple sense too because a single Minion Pillar had given her +5 Minions to control in her horde, though she still didn't understand what the heck 'health' meant, but the problem lied in how many Spire Objects remained to be found... and the thing was, was that there were only a few of them left to retrieve.

The original Halkeginia Overlord was just barely starting up his evil domain before he got brutally killed by orcs. So the Black Spire only had a few Spire Objects to its name: a single Minion Pillar, a single Health Pillar, a single Mana Pillar, a single Steel Smelter, and a single Slow Spell Stone.

Other than the missing Mana Pillar, Steel Smelter, Slow Spell Stone, and the Green and Blue Minion Hives, there really wasn't much else for Louise to collect.

Still, Louise was a studious person and she was soaking up all this new information like a sponge. Everything was just so new to her, it was completely unlike anything she had ever heard before in Halkeginia.

Especially the concept of Spell Stones.

Long story short, the Devil Bringer is the tool that is casting the spell for her, thus the spell should be 100% perfect, no explosions, nothing, nada, just the spell going without a hitch.

She wanted that Slow Spell Stone oh so badly.

Anyways, without anything more to do, Louise spent the rest of her day casting explosive fireballs trying to improve her aim.

...

And then the next day starts.

Snarl tells the pink head of where the Mana Pillar could be found and she went right out to snatch it up.

It was located in another abandon town, two-and-half-hours away on foot, called '_Laon_.' It was serving as a peace-offering to the dearly departed as a giant make-shift gravestone to all the people who had fallen to Mockelem raids before the residents of Laon moved out themselves.

Louise felt terrible if she took the pillar from a graveyard without replacing it; Kirche and Tabitha agreed, though the blue head strangely chose not to visit the graveyard at all for some reason. Still, commoners or not, the dead should be paid their due respect.

The little pink head ordered her minions to grab rocks and pile them up in place of the pillar and it eventually reached the size of the Mana Pillar. Kirche herself did her own thing by lighting up some small funeral pyres.

With their respects paid, the group took the Mana Pillar and quietly left the ghost town.

Snarl shouted, '_Mana increased, it has!_' and that still didn't make sense to Louise. Mana was all around them, it was free, like air, so how the heck did having more mana helped at all?

Thus the elder green minion had to teach the small strawberry blond some more about her Devil Bringer.

Basically, one of the functional weaknesses of a Halkeginia Mage was the fact that they needed Willpower to control mana and therefore cast their magic. This was not the case for the Devil Bringer, which directly manipulated mana on its own, and could cast spells for as long as it had mana.

Problematically, the overlord gauntlet didn't have much of a mana reserve of its own and could only store mana in its overcore. Also, that stored mana becomes '_overmana_' which is why the Devil Bringer can only manipulate the mana inside of it and not the outside ambient mana; it was originally designed for beings with little to no natural capacity of mana or willpower of their own, and thus served as a tool to let them cast magic without those things. Consequently, there was only one primary and reliable way to replenish the Devil Bringer's mana: Returning to the Black Spire.

Though Louise did learn the tidbit that her familiar's overcore could suck in the ambient mana on its own. Snarl admitted that only her familiar was capable of doing that and that was apparently because the armored demi-god had master using his overlord gauntlet as a foci and it might also have been a side-effect for wearing his overlord gauntlet for a very long time; centuries was the vague estimation he gave.

It blew the little pink head's mind that her familiar could be that old.

Speaking of Louise, the Minion Master pointed out that she wasn't even using the Devil Bringer properly. Despite using her wand and overlord gauntlet together on her left arm, the pink head was still using her wand as her primary foci and thus the Devil Bringer only ever activates sub-consciously from the flow of her willpower.

Immediately the Valliere tried using her only her Devil Bringer to cast Candle Light but the spell didn't even occur.

Snarl theorized that there were two major reasons for this: the first was that the Devil Bringer was suppose to tap into a Spell Stone to cast spells. The second was that if it didn't or couldn't tap into a Spell Stone, then it was just a above-average foci for her; there was a reason Halkeginia Mages had to use wands and staff to cast their magic and not just any other object that they can pick up off the floor.

Louise was, understandably, annoyed that she was now wearing dead-weight. Light, but still dead-weight. The only reason she was still wearing the Devil Bringer was because it was technically a gift from her familiar.

She spent the rest of that day trying magic while switching back and forth between her wand and overlord gauntlet.

...

On the third day, Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha finally decided to return to Tristain Academy of Magic.

Louise was easily excused saying that she had some stuff to help the princess with, meanwhile Tabitha excused herself with a emergency situation needing her attention as a chevalier.

Guiche, who had arrived days earlier, was also promptly excused. Though the fop did let it 'slip' that he was out on a errand for her Her Highness and risked his life fighting mercenaries. Obviously he embellished the story and the audience were eating it up.

Kirche on the other hand wasn't quite as devious and easily declared that she was skipping out and didn't regret it, thus she was punished with staying behind each class and had to clean them up for two weeks. In addition to that, she had to take make-up classes during the Day of the Void.

There were still some concerns from the rest of the school about the missing Miss Longueville or the Overlord but that was quickly dismissed by the headmaster saying that he gave the secretary an extended vacation and Louise saying that her familiar was serving as a bodyguard to said secretary.

It was also during this day that a royal messenger visited the school and the wedding between Princess Henrietta de Tristain and King Albrecht III de Germania was officially announced. The ceremony would take place at the end of the following month at Germania's capital of Vindobon but before the conclusion of the military alliance which would be formally ironed out a week later.

Of course, that was the only formal announcement told to the students and staff.

Old Osmond was no fool and liked to keep daily tabs of the political situations going around; especially about Albion due to the civil turmoil it was going through.

He was informed three days ago that Newcastle and the Royalists had fallen and that the Rebel Forces suffered a casualty of one-tenth its army, plus the emergence of a rumor of a mysterious Black Knight. The old man easily connected the dots about what Louise's and Guiche's secret mission was, where they went, and where the little pink head's familiar was still apparently at.

Expectantly though, the Rebel Forces had a hard time calming down the growing unrest in the country because of their pyrrhic victory and it took three days for them to officially claim Albion as their own. A person named Cromwell, who was previously a bishop for Romalia, claimed the seat of '_Emperor of Albion_' and the White Country itself was renamed as '_The Holy Republic of Albion_.'

Obviously, none of the other countries were pleased that the man had dare called himself an 'Emperor' and that he had even turned the mighty kingdom of Albion into a republic.

The new government acted with extreme swiftness and sent special envoys to Tristain and Germania for both congratulations on the wedding but also to sign a non-aggression pact.

The three countries knew the the real rulers were Reconquista and were simply trying to buy itself time, but there was nothing the yet-to-be Tristain-and-Germania Alliance could do. Albion's Sky Navy was hardly damaged in the actual civil war, thus it still retained absolute air supremacy against even Tristain's and Germania's combined Sky Navy.

But with no other alternatives, the Alliance would have to accept the offer when the military alliance was scheduled. They had hope that with the large casualty that the Albian ground forces had suffered, the negative impact on their morale, and the harassment from the mysterious Black Knight, would all be enough to keep the new government in check.

Old Osmond said to nobody in particular, '_Now what do they plan to do next?_' as he fiddled around with a small old notebook.

...

Later that day, our heroine Louise was called up to the Headmaster's Office.

She walked in and saw that the old man was examining a curiously old looking notebook; 'ancient' didn't even begin to describe the condition the book looked to be in, though the pages seemed to be more well-preserved.

"You called for me, so..." she curiously stated.

The old man stood up and spread his arms, "Why, yes. Yes, I did, Miss Valliere. Come in. Come in and have a seat!" after she took her seat he continued, "Have you rested from your tiresome journey?" he had a knowing twinkle in his eye that Louise caught sight of, "I am sure that whatever task Her Highness had given you required a great deal of effort and was in the best interest of Tristain," he chuckled, "Be proud, Miss Valliere."

The pink head felt a tinge of embarrassment because she didn't do all that much during the mission but she bowed anyways. Afterward, the headmaster handed her the book he was previously inspecting.

"What's this?" she asked suspiciously.

"The Founder's Prayer Book," he stately calmly.

"The Founder's Prayer Book," she repeated, "This thing?" she was flipping through the pages but found that it was entirely empty.

So a little story about this '_The Founder's Prayer Book_.' It was apparently a legendary artifact that Founder Brimir used to write down all of his spells in during his lifetime and also used it to pray to the gods with.

Funnily, because of that distinction, there should only be one, yet many people claim to own the mythical item. But regardless of authenticity, all the books were gathered into Tristain's Royal Library. There really wasn't any way to test them either, since only Founder Brimir was able to use Void and nobody could claim to be able to do the same.

Old Osmond had the honor of looking through a few of these books before and the letters always jumped out to him. This time? Not at all, this Founder's Prayer Book was completely blank.

Yet that only served to further its authenticity. The old man has gone through enough adventures in his life to know that it was sometimes the inconspicuously stupid things that held the most secrets.

"Yes, indeed," Old Osmond said as he stroked his beard, "That is the Founder's Prayer Book and it was given to me just now by the royal messenger that passed through."

"Okay...?"

"According to the tradition in Tristain's Royal Family, when a royal family member is wed, then a noble is chosen to take the role of the bridesmaid. Therefore, following the imperial edict, the selected bridesmaid is also traditionally given the Founder's Prayer Book."

"Uh huh," she nodded blankly.

Oh jeez. Louise is a quick learner but she can be pretty slow despite people dropping hints for her all the time.

The old man coughed, "And the princess has chosen you, Miss Valliere, to be that bridesmaid."

"The princess did?" our pink head obviously perked up at the word 'princess.'

"That's right, and the bridesmaid must also come up with a written praise when receiving the book."

_Ding!_

"Ah! I have to think up an edict?'!"

"Why yes, yes, of course. Though there are certain palace etiquette you must learn..." Old Osmond grumbled the next line, "...traditions can rather bothersome," and then he talked properly again, "However, Miss Valliere, this is another great honor Her Highness has bestowed upon you and I am sure that she is looking forward to hearing whatever edict you will write. So follow the proper palace regulations and write the edict," he clapped his hands together, "because something like this only happens once in a lifetime."

Louise was joyful that her childhood friend had chosen her to be the bridesmaid but was then sadden when she remembered that the wedding was for a political marriage and not one of true love.

"I understand," she said politely with a nod.

"Good, good," the headmaster smiled, "I'm sure the princess will be pleased. Good luck, Miss Valliere."

...

Almost one week later and our heroine Louise still hasn't written a single letter or word in the Founder's Prayer Book. She was spending most of her time in the Austri Court with her new hobby of knitting, for no particular reason, and was essentially having writer's block.

Even after learning all the etiquette and regulations about the edict, the pink head still couldn't find anything to write.

That was mostly because, as the bridesmaid, she would be require to say the speech during the wedding and she, quite frankly, couldn't come up with anything that wasn't so corny enough to embarrass her on stage.

So, here she was, knitting a Founder damnit monstrosity. It wasn't bad, it was atrocious. She wanted a sweater and she was getting some weird scarf thing. Even she was aware of just how bad it looked and let out a bitter sigh.

She decided to drop the little project for now and looked around at the court. She saw that plenty of the other students were out enjoying themselves.

And then the strangest thing happened to her: a commoner servant walked up to her with a question.

"Excuse me, milady," the maid said politely.

Louise quirked an eyebrow. Their social statuses were so far apart that she normally wouldn't even talk to a commoner that initiated a conversation with her.

But a distraction was a distraction, so she was willing to listen.

"Yes, what is it, Maid?"

"If I may so rudely ask... do you know where Sir Knight Sauthoth is?"

Her familiar? The Overlord? What would the servants want with him?

"Yes, I do," which technically isn't wrong, Louise knows that he's somewhere in Albion, "Why? Is there something you need from my familiar?"

The maid fidgeted, "That is, well, perhaps another tim-"

Louise glared, "Answer me, Maid, what is it that you want?"

The maid bowed deeply, face facing the ground, "We require the assistance of your familiar, milady."

"What for?"

"Recently, one of our own, a maid, has been... _transferred_ from the academy to work for a Royal Messenger."

The strawberry blond crossed her arms, "Explain."

"We had hope to ask Sir Knight Sauthoth to _save_ her."

The little master noted the use of '_save_' from the servant, "And who is this Royal Messenger?"

"Count Mott," the maid replied still in the deep bow.

Louise frowned delicately. The man had a very terrible reputation even amongst other nobles, '_save_' might not have been too far off for any of his female servants.

"And who was it that the Count had acquired?"

"...Miss Siesta of Tarbes."

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Halkeginia Nobility_ - Traditional Halkeginia Nobility are separated into two groups: Royalty and Nobles.

The Royalty consist of the King and Queen, and then the Prince and Princess afterward.

The Nobles consist of the Duke and Duchess, Marquis and Marquise, Count and Countess, Viscount and Viscountess, Baron and Baroness, Baronet and Baronetess, and finally the Chevalier.

The title of Emperor and Empress is reserved only for the mighty people, and their following heirs, that have reunited all of Halkeginia and retaken the Holy Lands.

The title of King and Queen is given to the ruling family, that has existed since Founder Brimir's time, as they are his blood descendant. Likewise, their children are known as the Prince and Princess. When a child is deemed worthy of becoming the next ruler then they are known as the Crown Prince or Crown Princess.

The title of Archduke and Archduchess are archaic titles and is no longer used anywhere except in Albion but that was before it became a republic. It was generally given to those individuals that have done enough services for the Royal Family to become candidates for the throne despite having no royal blood.

The title of Duke and Duchess is given to those who have done a great service to their country and control a territory for themselves. They are generally generals that have earned the confidence of their royalty and will normally directly serve the Royal Family, not the Royal Army, during war.

The title of Marquis and Marquise is given to those who are also generals with a appreciable service record. They own territory that border their country and are in charge of its defense, thus own a army of their own. During war, the Marquis and Marquise are gathered together along with their soldiers to become the National Army.

The title of Count and Countess is given to those with good deeds to their country but generally do not have military services of any kind. They are lesser lords and do not own territory of their own but do own the property they live on.

The title of Viscount and Viscountess is given to those who are in service of the Count and Countess and are considered deputy officers.

The title of Baron and Baroness is given to nobles with some good deeds to their country and is the lowest title available for mage families. However, because most noble families have existed for hundreds of years and marriage is usually done by marrying into a family instead of starting a new one, the title is falling into disuse in everywhere except Germania.

The title of Baronet and Baronetess are archaic titles awarded to commoners that raise a large amount of funds for the Royalty during war. However, since war hasn't been in Halkeginia in a fairly long time, the title has fallen into disuse. More importantly, the title is simply no longer given because there is no prestige attached to it anymore. Most Baronet and Baronetess that exist now are self-proclaimed.

The title of Chevalier is the highest, and technically only, awarded titles to soldiers, whether they be commoner or mages, in esteemed recognition of the individual's service for their country. Unlike the many other titles of nobility before it, the title of Chevalier is not hereditary and must be earned.


	18. You Hired The Maid Prepare To Pay

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Eighteen - You Hired The Maid Prepare to Pay

* * *

Louise was having a nice ol' cup of tea out at the Austri Court while relaxing on a comfortable fold-up chair, out in the nice refreshingly cool breeze, under the warm sunlight, as her fellow peers played around on the sharply cut grass.

And what a Founder damn headache she had.

Count Frederick de Mott, a Royal Palace Messenger for Tristain, had apparently gone and acquired the maid Siesta, and Louise had half-a-mind to just leave the commoner to her fate. After all, she barely knew the maid.

But no, she couldn't.

Her familiar, Sauthoth, had once protected the servant from Guiche's outburst and even seemed to be on friendly terms with her. Louise even had a nagging suspicion that if he was here to hear of this then he would have rushed to Count Mott's mansion, beat him senseless, and then take back the maid.

But since her familiar wasn't here to do that, it now fell up to her to do so.

Why her? Simple, because she had an equal nagging suspicion that if she didn't do it, then her familiar would be sorely disappointed in her and might even give her another evil-eye session.

Brimir knows just how much she's afraid of that damn evil-eye. How the heck did that technique even work? All he does is narrow his eyes!

'_Stupid familiar..._' the pink head muttered. Lately it seems that her familiar has been influencing her decision despite not even being here.

So there was little doubt in her mind now, she had to save the maid Siesta from Count Mott.

Of course, things are never simple for our young heroine.

The maid just had to attract the attention of _The_ Count Mott. The man had a very well known lecherous side that would make even prostitutes blush, and while the official status was that he was simply hiring maids to work at his place, everybody knew that he was really after their bodies. He was also a Triangle-Class Water Mage and his Runic Name was '_the Wave_' for his signature use of the Rising Fall Tidal Wave spell, though he had a habit of using Ice spells as well. Furthermore, he wasn't just a Count, he was also a Royal Palace Messenger.

Truthfully speaking, nobody really liked the man either. His position of Count and Royal Palace Messenger was inherited and the only reason he still retained those positions was because his preferences were still well within his rights as a Noble. Thus, he could not be stripped of his rank.

Worst was the fact that the man himself knew that quite well and liked to rub that fact in whenever there was a social gathering. So he was a cocky bastard of a man.

So let's put it this way: Count Mott was a full-grown man at Triangle Class with several dozen guards to protect him. Meanwhile Louise was a child-size teenage girl with ten Browns or Reds to protect her and less than spectacular magical proficiency.

That wasn't even counting the fact of the perverted man's political power. While his status of Count made him a lesser noble, he was still a Royal Messenger for the Palace, thus if any acts of assault were to happen to him then he could simply cite treason or whatever.

This was considerably bad for Louise because, even though her father was a Duke and her mother was a Duchess, the pink-haired girl herself didn't hold any political power of her own.

In other words, Louise couldn't possibly face Count Mott in a straight fight or even bite him in the political rear without major repercussions to her own status.

Drinking all her tea, she let out a sigh, '_What a pain... that maid..._' she muttered with disdain.

She was thinking hard about finding a way to implement the Count as negligent of his duty or a traitor to the Crown.

There was no way she would ever go up and ask the man for a favor, the Rule of Steel forbid it; never compromise with scum.

Louise quickly ordered for another tea and took a sip before continuing to rack her brain.

Kirche was still cleaning up the classroom, with no magic allowed I might add, so the pink head couldn't expect her help or Tabitha's. She thought of asking Guiche, but the blond boy was either busy self-training or trying to raise his affection points with Montmorency.

So Louise had no one to help her this time.

"Problem, you have, Master?"

Well, except for her Minions anyways.

"Snarl... You have got to stop doing that."

The Minion Master laughed, "Troubled, you are. Assist you, I must."

Louise licked her lips and mulled over whether she should shoo away the old Green. She relented and explained the situation to him in full detail.

"Hmm... Troublesome, yes. Threaten, you cannot, with no power. Displace, you cannot, with no status. Hmm..."

"I know that," she growled.

"Then trick, you must."

"What?"

The elder minion sneered, "Much to learn, you need. Much to learn."

...

Oh. Dear. Founder.

Louise couldn't believe what she was doing right now. It was the most stupidest thing she was doing in all of her life.

This... This just couldn't work.

"The Count will now see you, Inspector Dadget," a guard said with a gesture.

"Thank you, my good man," a deep scruffy voice replied.

Yet it did.

Just... Just how? Why? Somebody, anybody, get me a soda. I can't throw away my suspension of disbelief. Is everybody holding the idiot ball today? What? What is wrong with you people?'!

_Ugh..._

Enough of my tantrum, we're going through a flash back to explain how we got here.

...

Previously, hours ago.

It was getting late, but our dear conniving Snarl's plan required Louise to act fast if she wanted to keep the maid Siesta pure, so she rushed back to her room and grabbed her pouch of gold and rode a horse to the capital of Tristainia and walked into a shady weapon's dealer shop.

When she opened the door a bell made a '_~ding-a-ling~_' sound and the owner immediately rushed up to greet her.

The man looked very ratty and was well into his fifties. He threw away the pipe he was smoking and rubbed his hands, "My lady! My noble lady! All of my wares here are real and reasonably priced! There's nothing criminal here!"

That is not suspicious at all, nosiree.

"I am here as a customer," Louise clarified.

"Oh... that's rather odd, a noble buying a sword? That's quite strange, especially this late at night."

"I do not have time for this, Dealer," she said with undisguised venom, "I am here to buy a sword."

"O-Oh...! And what sword are you looking for?"

"Something inexpensive and that can talk. I heard you have a sword like that?"

Louise had heard it from Snarl in case you're wondering.

While scrying for the Spire Objects the Minion Master had come upon the intriguing blade awhile back and noticed it arguing with the shop-keeper. Of course, it had to be an ancient and powerful weapon if the well-portal had accidentally home in on the sword. Still, there was no point in mentioning it because, as far as Snarl knew, the Overlord already had a much better weapon: the Abyssal Blade.

Still, right now, they needed that talking sword.

"Yes," the man said dutifully fast, it seems he recovered fast from Louise's intimidation, "over there in that bin," he placed a hand to his head and muttered, '_I can't believe somebody is actually looking for that sword._'

Louise walked over to the bin and a deep male voice spoke up, "Looking for me, eh, Noble Girl?"

The pink head noticed the rustling of one sword and pulled it out along with its scabbard.

It was heavy, real heavy for her to lift even with two hands. It was also rusted with age and the blade could be classified as a thin longsword.

"So you're the talking sword," our heroine phrased more in a statement than a question.

"Yeah, that's right! The Great Derflinger! That's who I am!"

Louise turned to the owner, "How much?"

"One-hundred New Gold."

"60," our pink head quickly repeated after Snarl, "I seem to recall the rumors that this sword has caused you to lose out on many sales, Dealer... Do you honestly believe anybody else will come and buy this sword or any of your other wares if they had to deal with the chatter of this blade?"

The sentient weapon made a small outcry that nobody listened to.

"Ninet-" "60." "Sevent-" "60." "Sixty fi-" "60."

Louise was giving a very cold glare. She was not on the level of the Overlord's Evil-Eye but this glare was something she had developed during her years of being 'Zero' and she used it to shut up any impertinent fool. Though her peers had built an immunity to it, this shop-keeper didn't have any.

"S-Sixxtyyy!" the ratty man sputtered out, "S-S-SOoOLDD!"

The strawberry blond placed the money on the counter and quickly left. By the time the man regained cognitive functions back, Louise was long gone from the capital.

...

Our heroine was riding her horse back to the Tower Gate near the academy to return to the Black Spire for some equipment that she needed.

"I need you for a plan," Louise nearly hissed as Snarl explained the mission to her in real-time; it was just so stupid.

"Oh? And what plan would that be, Girly?" the quillon, or otherwise known as a crossguard, was what moved every time the blade spoke.

Louise quickly repeated a summarized version of her situation and Snarl's plan to Derflinger.

"WOAH! You're a scary little girl, ya know that? Kids these day, I don't know whether to call that bravery or recklessness! But, ha, I like you, Girly! I've only just been bought but I'm already doing something so exciting! Alright, let's do this!"

Louise briefly switched over to talking to Snarl which befuddled the blade momentarily when it thought the strawberry blond had gone crazy.

"Are you sure we'll be able find any kind of evidence in the Count's manor?" she asked with a tiny frown. The plan was really all kinds of reckless if proof couldn't be found.

"Evil that humans do, compare not to evil we do. Men such as the Count, doubt not, secrets he has, and hidden close, they will be."

The pink-haired girl simply gave a huff in reply.

...

It was getting late and two oddly cloaked figures walked towards the gate of Count Mott's manor.

They were our heroes, dear readers.

In one of the tightly concealed cloaked figures was Louise serving as the legs with two brown minions on top of her and holding Derflinger vertically. In the other cloaked visage was six brown minions standing on top of each other; the still unnamed lazy-eyed brown at the top. And there were two other browns hiding in the bushes outside.

'Awkward' didn't even begin to describe just how weirdly our disguised heroes moved.

All the Minions were the veteran Browns that Louise had used before, though this time they didn't have any weapons or armor on them. Except for the two that were on stand-by in the bushes.

Their plan should be very obvious at this point: '_sneak_' in, cause a disturbance, and then find any incriminating evidence before escaping.

Yeah, it was a really stupid plan.

Yet it worked. Somehow.

"Halt!" one of the two guards called out.

"Ello thar, Guard!" Derflinger boomed out in an odd accent, "My name is Inspector Dadget, and I've just come back from a rough and rowdy trip from Rub Al Khali and what not. Seeing as I'm passing through, I was hoping that ol' Count Motty would provide me and my friend a room tonight!"

"You're an Inspector?" a guard said in disbelief.

"Course I am! I work for the Tactical Information Gathering Division of the Imperial Guards! Just came back from a bloody mission from Rub Al Khali, I did!"

"Bloody mission? But you're clea-"

"It's an expression, boyo!"

The two guards looked at each other quizzically. Was this guy a foreigner of some kind?

"If we can see your papers the-"

"No can do, laddie! Top ol' the secret mission from Her Highness and what not!"

Secret mission from Her Highness? Oh dear.

"But we can't just let a strange-"

"I can show you my Tristain Inspector Seal if you want, but not anymore than that, kiddo! Besides! I'm just here to ask ol' Count Motty for a bed and breakfast. I don't even have the papers for a proper inspection anyways!"

"I-I see... may we see your seal, please?"

Inspector Dadget's 'arm' moved slightly funnily to hand a sealed letter over. The guards inspected it with one another before nodding. One went off into the manor holding the letter.

"We'll need to show the Count your seal before we can let you in."

"I understand, boyo!"

Derflinger has no inside voice, only cruise control.

The remaining guard looked to the other person who was standing next to Inspector Dadget.

"This here is my friend and assistant!" the disguised sword piped up, "Say hello, Pemmy!"

"Hel-yoz!" the lazy-eyed brown said with an equally awkward wave.

"Little ol' Pemmy here caught a disease back in one of our inspections long ago out in Germania! Poor water mages couldn't cure his throat, so now his voice is just a tad squeaky, I'm afraid and wort not!"

Then Inspector Dadget leaned in too close for comfort for the lone guard, he spoke quietly, "Don't worry, I was told that it wasn't contagious."

The guard shifted uncomfortably.

...

Let's have a peek at Count Mott by the way.

He had short, nearly shaved, tan-like brown hair. He had a thin mustache and equally thin eyebrows that curled at the end; heck, even his sideburns curled. The man wore a large white ruffle around his neck and a red-and-white cape over his red poofy clothes, and his expression always looked smug or bored.

In other words, you would hate his guts the second you saw him in your sights.

The Count was busily trotting down the hallway for a late-night meal. He was going to fill up his stomach before he ordered the new maid down to his private quarters, when the guard with the letter quickly walked up to him.

"Sir, there is an Inspector outside wishing to spend the night here," the guard said with a salute.

"What? An Inspector? This late?" the Count raised a brow and stroked the curl of his mustache.

"Yes, sir. He and his acquaintance were returning to the capital after a secret mission from Her Highness."

The Count narrowed his eyes abit. A secret mission? That was one way for him to be unable to confirm to be true or not, especially this late at night.

"And he just wants to sleep here?"

"Yes, sir. '_Bed and breakfast_' were his words. He apparently doesn't have the papers for an inspection."

The perverted man perked an eyebrow. No inspection papers? Then this isn't a surprise inspection. Good, the palace hasn't caught onto him yet. But first...

"Any proof that the man is not just some poor beggar pretending to be more than his truly is?"

"This is his seal, sir," the guard said as he handed the letter.

Count Mott was going to eye it carefully but his stomach grumbled, he lazily gave the seal a glance and considered it to be the real deal before pushing the letter back to the guard.

If the perverted man had tried harder then he would have notice that the seal was actually a combination of the Tristain Academy of Magic's seal and Louise's own La Valliere family seal. But he didn't, so it only looked like some kind of odd seal of Tristain-make that he never saw before.

"Very well, let the man and his friend in," the Count said with a lazy wave of his hand, "Escort them to my personal library, I will meet the two there," and walked away for a snack.

Sure, this might not be a surprise inspection, but that didn't mean the Count wasn't on the look out for potential threats, such as Inspectors. He would meet with these two tonight and explain to them the conditions of their brief nighttime lodging; if only so he could identify them later when he needed to.

...

And now... here we are.

Snarl's idiotic plan has somehow worked, despite the many ways it could have failed, and our heroes were about to meet Count Mott and activate Phase Two of their plan.

"I love it when a plan comes together!" Derflinger said to nobody in particular.

'_Shut up!_' Louise quietly hissed to the sword.

The guards ignored Inspector Dadget's loud outburst. He was a loon as far as they were concerned. The guards quickly escorted the inspector and his assistant to the library and left to return to their position back at the entrance.

Count Mott was already sitting on a seat and had a cup of wine in his hand.

"Welcome, Inspector!" the man greeted with fake warmth, "I am Count Frederick de Mott, Royal Messenger for the Royal Family of Tristain. I must say that I was not expecting a guest tonight."

"Well, ello thar, Count Motty! Names' Dadget. Inspector Dadget! And that there is my assistant, Pemmy!"

"Mott," the man corrected, "And it is a pleasure to meet you two. So why don't you take a seat before we have our chat?"

Inspector Dadget shot out an arm, "No can do, Count Monty! Me and ol' Pemmy here would prefer to stand and what not!"

The Count narrowed his eyes and raised a brow. The Inspector had an odd accent and weird movements but he and his assistant were also draped from head-to-toe in a black robe that easily hid their features. Very suspicious.

Well, no duh.

"Mott," he corrected again. He had placed the wine down on the table and let one arm relaxed on the chair-rest but had the other arm ready to pull out his stave, which was hidden under his robes. He continued, "But I insist that you take a seat, Inspector Dadget. Surely you must tired after your long quest?"

"Well, if you don't mind us getting this place dirty alittle earlier than expected and what not, then alright then, Count Moldy!"

The perverted man thought the inspector had meant that his clothes was dirty and that by sitting down he would ruin the chairs, but that wasn't exactly what Derflinger meant.

"GO GO DADGET SURPRISE!" and then the inspector and his assistant promptly exploded into brown goblin-like creatures.

"YAHOO!" "YEARGH!" "WOOO!"

"UWWWAAAAA!" the Count screamed and tried to cast a spell in his confusion but a minion holding Derflinger quickly used the blunt edge to knock him out.

Louise quickly got untangled from her fallen disguise and waved her arms. The eight minions inside were immediately order to create as much chaos as they could inside the manor and scattered off to break things. The two minions outside received different commands to throw rocks at the guards.

"Quick, tie 'em up, Girly!" the brown holding Derflinger stayed behind as her bodyguard. So it really was seven minions causing chaos inside the manor.

"I know!" the pink head shouted as she tied up the Count with the robes and took his stave and had her bodyguard minion snap it in half.

"Snarl!" Louise yelled, "Where should I start looking?'!"

Time was of the essence. The Browns could probably artfully dodge as long as they weren't too focus on destroying things and they were rather hardy, but the same couldn't be said of Louise. The minions were her distractions and she needed to move quick before she would be eventually found.

"Search, and find answer, you will."

Being cryptic isn't helpful at all!

"SNARL! You...! You...! You disgusting min- idi- ARGH!" Louise growled before running off and pulling out books but no secret passages opened up for her.

She quickly rifled through drawers and found nothing. She removed rugs and found no basements. She ran into the hallway removing portraits and paintings and found no doors or safes. She looked everywhere in a rush but couldn't find anything. It especially didn't help that she didn't know what she was suppose to look for either.

...

Louise found herself standing in the main hall on the bottom-floor.

'_What in Founder's name am I doing...?_' she thought as she stared into the ceiling, '_Working so hard for a maid, a commoner..._'

Her desperation was slowly turning into tiredness.

She didn't have any real answers. She wanted to prove something, though she wasn't quite sure what, and so she was here in this manor trying to save the maid.

She muttered, '_I need to get out of here, the plan is a fai..._'

Ah, '_Failure_.' She hated that word. It always came along with her nickname 'the Zero.'

Louise shook her head and reorganized her thoughts, '_I am not doing this for the maid or my familiar! I am doing this for myself!_' She was not going to give up. The point of '_why_' didn't matter anymore, only '_who_,' and she was going to succeed one way or another; end of discussion!

Well, despite all that, there was still some doubt inside of her.

"YOU!"

The pink-haired girl quickly spun around and saw a very angry and no longer bounded Count Mott on the upper-floor pointing a wand at her.

Well... crud.

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE BUT YOU ARE MOST CERTAINLY THE MASTER OF THOSE FILTHY GOBLINS!" he waved his wand around, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY, LITTLE GIRL!" he quickly chanted a Waterbullet spell and rained it upon Louise.

Derflinger shouted something but the strawberry blond simply reacted by dodging right from the first barrage, however was quickly caught in the second. The attack ripped to shred her clothes and make sharp cuts on her skin but none had actually punctured her body.

The Count was breathing and panting heavily in excitement and exhaustion, "I don't know what you were planning to do, little girl, but I'll make you regret ever trying it!" and chanted another Waterbullet on the fallen girl.

She tried using the Devil Bringer to block but she simply had too much surface area and was still hit all over her body.

"I'll make your body understands the pain I can inflict upon it, before I show it pleasure!" and he chanted another.

Louise was practically lying on the floor at this point, unable to defend or dodge, '_Hold on, Girly!_' the brown holding Derflinger quickly came to her side and took the brunt of attack for her.

It died.

Louise for the first time saw how a Minion died. It was almost comical in the way that it had expressed its death with a smile and a laugh but the way the creature had cheerily died for her sake left her mouth extremely bitter.

She saw a skull floating above its body but didn't know what that was. The soul? It didn't seem to have dropped Lifeforce. Heck, how did she survive all those spells? The Count might have gone easy on her but she shouldn't be conscious, not with the amount of damaged he had inflicted on her.

The pink head's thoughts briefly wandered around as such, before the pain made her sharply focus on Count Mott.

The man had calmed himself down and was dabbing off his sweat with a handkerchief, "I don't know how much of those _things_ you exactly brought with you, but I'm sure my guards have taken care of them," he walked down the stairs slowly, step-by-step, and spoke lewdly, "I see that you're a strapping and beautiful girl. Why, in a few years I can imagine just how nice and fit you'll grow up to be," he continued rambling madly, "I'm not a cruel man, not even I would sell you to those deplorable molesters. I have standards!" and then he laughed, "Yes, taming a wild beauty such as yourself will be a pleasure!"

His last step clanged loudly as he reached the bottom-floor.

Everything was becoming a blur to Louise. She barely heard what the Count was saying and she couldn't even understand the sentient sword as it was shouting right next to her.

She was tired. She had tried to convince herself that she was fighting for herself, but was she really? Wasn't she here because she thought that this was what her stupid familiar would have done? Wasn't she here to rescue a maid that she barely knew? Wasn't she here trying to do an incredibly stupid task?

What was the point of it all?

And then, she suddenly experienced a strange moment of clarity and her ears focused on the talking sword.

"Come on, Girly! Are ya giving up already?'! What happen to all that spunk ya showed earlier?'! You gonna let this guy trample all over ya?'! You're a Noble ain'tcha? Then cast a spell or something! Never give up, Girly! If things are looking bad, then just kick reason to the curb and do everything ya can, even if you have to struggle in the mud for it! Does it matter who you're fighting for or even why you're fighting? It doesn't, kiddo! All's that matter is that you win! So, win!"

Louise chuckled to herself, '_Who the hell do you think I am...?_' she weakly mumbled.

Count Mott was standing before her and looking down upon her, he kicked the little pink-haired girl in the gut. Louise, half-turned on her sides, met his eyes with a glare.

"That's right, just as the sword said, be defiant to the end, it'll make breaking you in all the more enjoyable for me," he said with a sneered.

Louise lifted a finger at the man; hate was aimed at him.

She was not a failure, she was not going to fail, she was going to succeed. To hell with this man, everything about him made her hate him. Give up? Screw you! She's never giving up again, she is not a zero! Do you know who she is? She's the girl who summoned the god damn Overlord!

She labored under her breath and chanted a spell. It was not her element, yet she had practiced this spell all the time to the point where she had almost mastered it in Quick Spelling. Her emotions were high and that should have disrupted her spell, but it didn't, instead she felt more powerful than ever before; win. She wanted to win. To blast the smug look off this bastard's face.

He continued to kick her steadily, but Louise cried out her spell, "Fireball!"

A fireball launched from her finger and lit the Count's shoes aflame and it immediately spread to rest of his clothes. He quickly tried to douse the flames with a water spell of some kind but was met with a nasty surprise as the flames changed property.

_POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!_  
_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

The engulfing flames extinguished themselves by suddenly explode all over his body. While the spell did not actually harmed his body, it still activated the pain receptors and he was feeling excruciating pain like an insane itch all over his skin. The man dropped his wand as he shouted in pain.

Still lying on the floor, she picked up his fallen wand and pointed it at the Count.

"...I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere..." and she recited a line from the Rule of Steel, "...and I will never surrender to scum...!"

The girl coughed out another Fireball.

This time, the spell reacted like how it normally would for her: an invisible concussive force that sent the man flying towards the stairs, while destroying the rest of his already ruined clothes.

He landed hard on the stairs and was knocked unconscious.

"Ya did it, Girly! Good job!"

Louise closed her eyes and had a wry smile on her face. She had cast her first spell and it felt good. Sure, it exploded afterward, but if she tried hard enough, then just maybe...

"Hey, Girly!" Derflinger's shouting called her back, "You can't stand can ya? Well why don't you call back them goblins of yours and have them carry us out of here?"

Somehow Louise knew that there were still nine Brown Minions alive. It was always odd to her how she could tell the exact numbers.

"But I... still haven't... found anything yet..." she muttered tiredly.

"Oi, don't be so stubborn! We're not running away, this is what we call a 'tactical retreat'! I like ya, Girly! It'd be a real shame to lose an owner like you!"

The strawberry blond sluggishly waved her hand on the floor to call back three of her minions. About fifteen minutes later they came with no guards chasing after them, by this time, Louise was sitting upright as her body wasn't all that much injured and the pain was mostly gone now.

"MASTAR...!" MASTAH...!" "MASTUD...!"

The Browns were concerned at the sight of their beaten master.

Louise chuckled. It was still an odd sight for her to see anything, besides her sister Cattleya and Professor Colbert, show overt signs of concern for her.

"Come on, let's skedaddle already!" Derflinger shouted impatiently, "Before ol' Mot- Uh oh."

Count Mott had regained consciousness and had a vicious look on his face. His body still severely ached but he dragged himself up the stairs. He pushed down a pedestal and the water-filled vase easily cracked as it fell onto the floor, and the man hastily scrambled to take the wand that was hidden inside of it.

He quick-spelled a Relief spell using the surrounding water and stood right back up; he didn't suffer any real injuries so he didn't need to use Heal on himself.

The man combed back his hair with a hand and glared burning red at Louise.

"Girl, I will break every bone in your arms and legs before I take away your purity. I will turn you into a cripple that will my require my mercy and pity to even live."

"Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! This is bad!" Derflinger stated.

The three Brown Minions moved forward and brandished their large stolen kitchen cutlery at the perverted Count.

Louise pointed her wand at him and tried to cast another Fireball but her spell was stopped by a watery wall, Waterwall, again and again.

The man changed from using Water to Ice and casts Icicle Storm. The attacks intentionally avoided the pink-haired girl but the minions weren't as lucky as two were fatally injured and the third was now missing an arm.

"Now let me show you why people call me 'the Wave'! Experience the pain for yourself!" and Count Mott began to chant his signature spell.

"Oh raging waters of the ocean furies...!"

Derflinger clattered, "Oi, Girly! Run behind some cover or something! You're a sitting duck!"

"...Heed my call...!"

Louise pointed her wand at him. If he's casting another spell then there's no way his Waterwall can still be active.

"...Send my enemies into a watery grave..."

She fired another Fireball but it was intercepted by the still active Waterwall, "What?'! That's impossible!"

Count Mott smirked, "Rising Fall Tidal Wave!" and just like that, a large body of water surged toward the helpless strawberry blond.

Louise closed her eyes, '_Brace for impact!_' she heard the sentient sword yell out, meanwhile the one-armed brown hugged her.

_BANG!_

_FSSSHHHHH!_

Warm.

Louise expected to feel the cold embrace of the water but that wasn't what she was feeling. This sensation, it was warm, a warmth she has felt before; it was comforting and safe.

She slowly opened her eyes to see the large back of her familiar. He stood before her with a Combustion spell; the enveloping pillar of fire protected them from the raging water and evaporated it on contact.

"SAUTHOTH!" she let out.

The demi-god turned around to face her and Louise felt relief wash over her.

He was here. He was standing before her. And he was really here.

The armored familiar placed a hand over her head and ruffled her hair, '_You've done well_,' she could imagine him saying. She could feel the loving warmth and pride that her familiar was displaying for her. He was proud. He was proud of her.

Louise let out tears from her eyes and gave a bright smile. '_Never be emotional_' was a Rule of Steel but the strawberry blond didn't care, she had dearly missed him from her side.

"You idiot, you big stupid idiot of a familiar! What took you so long?'!" she cried out as rubbed her tears away, "... Welcome back..." she mumbled.

Derflinger made an outburst, '_This is your familiar?'! Woah, Girly, remind me to never get on your bad side!_'

Count Mott was equally confounded, "What?'! Who are you are?'! How dare you destroy the wall of my manor!" and was panicking at how easily his spell was countered.

The Overlord removed his hand and turned to face the perverted aristocrat. He gave the man an intense glare that stopped his heart for a second.

"_Wha, bla, murg, ui, les!_" the Count sputtered out.

From the new hole, a woman with long green hair stepped out.

"Miss Longueville?" the pink head noted.

"My apologies, Miss Valliere, for borrowing your familiar for so long," the secretary said with a polite bow.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"For you, of course," she said as walked over to the fallen girl, "We just got back from our business in Albion when Snarl told us that you were fighting the Count, so we rushed on over as quickly as we could," she adjusted her crooked glasses, "I didn't think you'd have it in you."

"Fight the Count? But I wasn't planning to... SNARL! You knew that they were coming back! You...! You planned it like this from the beginning, didn't you?'!"

The Minion Master's voice laughed, "Much to learn, you do. Much to learn, Master. If not threaten, if not displace, then trick. The pieces, assembled they are, no?"

"Snarl...!" Louise growled.

"Take it easy, Miss Valliere, you're hurt," the woman handed our heroine a potion, which the pink head reluctant took over scowling at a telepathic voice and drank it slowly.

"W-WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?'!" Count Mott shouted in outrage; his motor functions had returned.

Going into her Fouquet persona, the woman stood up, faced the man, and brushed back her hair, "Ah, Count Mott, because of all the things I had to go through this month, I forgot that there was trash like you so close by."

"W-What did you say to me?'!" the royal messenger shouted indignantly.

"Trash, scum, filth, waste, the absolute lowest denominator of humanity. That's what the fuck you are, Count Mott," her voice was laced with venom.

The man reeled back at such blatant disrespect.

"I was going to deal with you myself but I'm suppose to be an upstanding citizen now," she clicked her tongue, "I guess I'll just expose your secrets and let the authorities handle you."

"W-What are yo-"

"Slave Trading and Drug Trafficking; don't try to play dumb, Count Mott. I'm sure the Crown will be very interested in hearing about your little dirty endeavors," she said with a devilish grin, "Don't worry, I already know where to find all the evidence I need."

"You... HOW DARE YOU...!"

Fouquet casts Earthwall and traps the Count from escaping left and right, "Now, Count, we can do this the easy way or the hard way! But I'd prefer it if you resist, it'll be alot more fulfilling for me if you do!"

Ah, irony was in the air.

The Overlord walks up the stairs and the perverted Count tries every spell he knew to attempt knocking down the giant.

_THOMP. THOMP. THOMP._

He cannot be stopped.

The demi-god faces the pathetic mortal man eye-to-eye.

This is a very lenient punishment for harming his little master.

The Overlord grabs the man's arms, one in each hand, and crushes them.

"GUAGHUWAHGUAGUAAAAUGHHHH!" the Count screamed and gurgled, as not only was the bones broken but also because his flesh inside was being stabbed by the shattered fragments of those bones, and his two arms were bending at angles that they should not.

The Overlord was going to back-hand slap the man but decided not to; he was going to let the pain sink in for as long as possible.

The demi-god returned to his little master and picked her up gently in a princess cradle.

The secretary spoke, "Well then, let's find our maid and get out of here. We need to file a report that Count Mott's manor was invaded by spies and goblins and during the chaos a single maid had stumbled upon evidence of his criminal activities~"

"You... have you always been like this?" Louise asked; she never got the chance to back at Newcastle.

"Always."

...

The next day, a platoon of Dragon Knights secured the premises and arrested Frederick de Mott; he was sentenced, not to jail, but to the dungeon for the rest of his life and was stripped of his ranks.

Some Nobles held secret parties to celebrate the downfall of what they considered the snobbiest Noble in all of Tristain.

Meanwhile, the maid, Siesta of Tarbes, was happily returned to Tristain Academy of Magic. Not only was she saved for the second time by her favorite knight in dark armor, but she actually played a vital role in striking down a corrupt Noble and would earn both compensation for the '_damages_' she suffered along with a reward for her '_discovery_.' Life was good, in other words.

And what of our Strawberry and Knight pair?

They were sitting down on the Vestri Court as Louise retells the adventures she had gone through while the demi-god was away.

From a distance, the scene was something like out a fairy-tale.

A bright little girl happily chatted away to a dark giant knight.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Waterbullet_ [Line Water] - 'A rain of water that becomes a bullet storm.' - _"Water and rain of the downpouring storm! Drench my enemies in your cold embrace! Waterbullet!"_

_Relief_ [Dot Water] - 'A basic recovery spell for relieving pain.' - _"The cleansing water of the blessed world! Purge, Relief!"_

_Heal_ [Dot Water] - 'A basic recovery spell for healing wounds.' - _"The clean and purified water of the blessed world! Purge, Heal!"_

_Waterwall_ [Line Water] - 'A defensive wall made of water.' - _"The hard water that withstands all force! The flowing, towering defense of the sea! Waterwall!"_

_Rising Fall Tidal Wave_ [Triangle Water] - 'A unique two-part spell developed by Count Mott. It is a giant wave of downward water with crushing force and pressure, followed by a second equally powerful upward wave.' - _"Oh raging waters of the ocean furies! Heed my call! Send my enemies into a watery grave, Rising Fall Tidal Wave!"_

_Earthwall_ [Dot Earth] - 'A defensive wall of earth.' - _"Defense of the mighty land! Form my protection, Earthwall!"_

* * *

**Author Notes**

My source materials for The Familiar of Zero setting are mostly from the light novels, while my source materials for Overlord: Raising Hell is from the video game.

Unfortunately speaking, I don't know much about the TFoZ anime-only events, which I pretty much only know exist because they appear in other fanfics. So, just like this Count Mott arc, I literally have no idea if I'm diverging very far from canon or not when portraying those anime-only characters.

Conversely, I know nothing about Raising Hell. I do own and have finished playing Overlord many times at 100% Pure and 100% Corrupted, and a couple of chaotic jerkass inbetween, but I know absolutely little about Raising Hell beyond stuff I gleamed off the Overlord Wikia.

With all that said, I like to believe that I hopefully made the characterization fit fairly well and aren't particularly, er, jarring.

Also, I know I complained about the auto-correct on Chapter 16, but now I need to complain about the new Spell-check. It's helpful, but at the same time it's absolutely atrocious.

Unrelated note, I've read through a few more TFoZ crossover fanfics, and I definitely enjoy **Grimoire Trouble** by _Blue342_ and **On The Wings of An Eagle** by _FernandelDeLaFrance_. If you enjoy splendidly done TFoZ crossovers, then they're well worth checking out.

I also recall getting a recommendation for an Exalted cross-over a while back, though I haven't tried that out yet. Sorry.


	19. Please Teach Me Miss Longueville

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Nineteen - Please Teach Me Miss Longueville

* * *

Today was the day after Count Mott was arrested.

Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere was sitting on a chair behind a desk in her room, at the Black Spire, being taught privately by Miss Longueville who was sitting on a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

The secretary had managed to allow the Headmaster to touch her firm rear long enough to get him to absent-mindedly sign a paper that allowed her to privately tutor the Valliere child away from the rest of the school and so forth.

'_I am flabbergasted!_' a person would hear the old man say if they had bothered to interview him, '_But that's exactly why I hired the woman: for her spunk. Keep up the good work, Miss Longueville!_'

The Overlord was busily bustling somewhere in Fang Jaws Mountains to retrieve the Steel Smelter from a nest of Fire Dragons with an army of Reds. How and why a fire dragon would fly off with the Spire Object centuries ago was something he didn't care all too strongly about.

After that, he would look for the Slow Spell Stone that was apparently in the deep dark ravine of the Black Spire and he would need to navigate an extremely complicated cave system to reach it.

Tenaciously, he would probably be done by early morning tomorrow.

The newest addition to our heroes, Derflinger, the sentient sword, become the personal weapon of the one-armed brown, who also become the personal bodyguard of Louise alongside the lazy-eyed brown.

Right now, the secretary, now also a private tutor, was teaching Louise an assortment of things with a lone Derflinger in attendance as well.

First off was Void.

"I know nothing about Void," the green head woman calmly stated, "No matter how far I researched, there's rarely any descriptions of the element. In fact, Miss Valliere, you probably have already heard all the stories about it," she repeated the well-known facts, "It is the element of Founder Brimir, it is said to be the strongest of the Pentagon Powers, and was considered to rival even the Ancient Magic of the Elves. Other than that... nothing."

Louise sighed, she had expected as much. The talking sword was surprisingly not being rowdy and just humming softly to itself as though it was deep in thought.

Surprisingly, despite being the most well-known person in all of Halkeginia with the most legends under his name, there were very little hard-facts that could be attributed to Founder Brimir. Heck, most scholars agreed that the Brimiric interpretation of him was strongly anglicized even if he was suppose to be a Messiah of the Gods.

"So we still know nothing about Void magic?" Louise asked disheartened.

"Nothing that I can say is set in stone, anyways. Though I do have some theories."

"Such as?" the pink urged. Better something than nothing.

"Remember, Miss Valliere, the things that I'm about to say are mostly conjecture," the woman waved her hand, "You would have better luck chatting with Mister Colbert if you wanted a more scientific view on these theories."

The girl nodded, "I understand, Miss Longueville."

"Well, the first thing is that Void Mages can't use any of the other elements; only Void. If they try to then their spells will end up in explosions."

Louise lightly frowned. So she can't do normal magic like everybody else?

'_Sounds about right_,' the sentient sword said in the background. The pinkette didn't hear it but the ex-thief took mental note of the statement.

"Second is that the discipline for Void Magic is unlike the normal elements. For example, from what you've told me when you had casted that... _bubbling fireball_, you were feeling extremely emotional when you had cast the spell; which should not have happened, your spell should have outright failed before it even started. So, its possible that Void Magic can be fueled by emotions. In fact, your explosions tend to be bigger and powerful the more emotional you are, right, Miss Valliere?"

"Is it?" Louise quizzically pondered, "I'm not sure. Maybe?" she said sheepishly.

'_Ah, that sounds about right too._'

"I wouldn't know, Miss Valliere. Like I said, consider it an educated guess from what I've seen and heard, but consider the second point as things that would normally apply to the other four elements might not necessarily work for Void," she took a cup of tea and took a sip, "Moving on, the third thing is about Brimir's Familiars."

By the way, dear readers, if you've read the Author Notes from Chapter Eleven, then you already know most of what is going to be said right now.

"Brimir's Familiars?" the pink head parroted. The Founder had familiars? "Wait... '_familiars_'... as in plural; more than one?"

"Yes, Brimir's Familiar_s_," the woman emphasized the 's,' and took another sip, "It's a lesser known fact for the general populace considering how Brimirality tends to show-case Founder Brimir all the time, but from the old text that scholars have read, the records stated that Founder Brimir had four familiars."

'_I think I remember something like that..._'

"Four?'!" Louise almost jumped out of her seat. For all her research in the Summon Servant spell, she had never even heard of more than one familiar being summoned.

Oh, right, I didn't mention it, but Louise did alot of research into the Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual months ago to make sure that she didn't fail her summoning. Obviously she didn't because, you know, she summoned a demi-god.

"Yes, that's right, he had four familiars, though nobody is sure how, and they're almost just as mysterious as Founder Brimir himself."

"Really? How so?'!" New information was always exciting for the pink head.

"For one thing, most records are incomplete or intentionally vague, so what's really only known about them is their name, titles, and roles. There's very little stories that mention them and there are no descriptions about them either."

"Hmm~ I wonder why? Wait, '_roles'_? Aren't all familiars suppose to do the same thing?"

"You are aware of the duties that is expected from a familiar, correct? Name them for me, Miss Valliere."

"First, a familiar is suppose to serve as the eyes and ears of their master. Secondly, a familiar is suppose to retrieve reagents for their master. And thirdly, most importantly, a familiar is suppose to protect their master from danger," she repeated in a prim and proper student-like answer.

"That's correct. According to the records though, Brimir's Familiars mainly served as his guardians. The other two roles didn't appear until sometime later when the Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual became more commonplace."

Louise gulped. All the stories of Founder Brimir painted him as the wisest and most powerful mage that had ever lived. What kind of familiars did a person like him summon?

Miss Longueville took a long sip of tea, "The first was known as '_Gandalfr the Left Hand of God_' or '_The Sword and Shield of God_.' It was said to have been able to wield any weapon in existence and could annihilate entire armies by itself. It received the title of 'Sword and Shield' because its duty was to protect Founder Brimir while he casted his Void Magic."

The sentient sword clanged, '_Gandalfr, ya say...?'!_'

"The second was known as '_Windalfr the Right Hand of God_' or '_The Command and Right of God_.' It was to have had the ability to identify, defeat, and command any magical beast. It received the title of 'Command and Right' because it could make mages or even elves bow to it with but a word."

"The third was known as '_Myozunitonirn the Mind of God_' or '_The Knowledge and Wisdom of God_.' It was said to have had the ability to recognize and use any mystical item. It received the title of 'Knowledge and Wisdom' because it could use any mystical items without any negative consequence."

"The fourth and final was known as '_Lifdrasir the Heart of God_' or '_The Soul and Power of God_.' It was said to have had the ability to transfer its own Willpower into Founder Brimir and even had the capability to boost the power of his Void Magic. It received the title of 'Soul and Power' because it had a massive amount of Willpower that probably dwarfed even Brimir's himself."

Louise's eyes were spinning and her head was in a jumbled mess, "Eh?'!" she uttered.

All these overpowered familiars were turning her world upside down.

The secretary drank down all her tea before snapping her fingers in front of the strawberry blond's face, "Miss Valliere, please snap out of it and pay attention."

"Munya?" she mewed, "Ah, I mean... yes, Miss Longueville?" Louise was slightly red.

"Stay with me, Miss Valliere, your lessons aren't over. So, while that is what the records say about Founder Brimir's Familiars, you should consider it to be widely embellish and exaggerated," the woman paused for abit, "Or that Void Mage's summon more 'capable' familiars than most mages. Either thought is fine."

"I-I see..."

"So, did you notice anything else about their descriptions?"

"Notice anything, I... um..." Louise thought long and hard. There was a connection between them but she couldn't identify what exactly it was, "...what kind of creatures were they, Miss Longueville?"

"Good, Miss Valliere. And to answer that: I don't know. However, the ability to wield any weapon, tame beasts, use any mystical artifact, or possess Willpower... those are clearly human, or atleast humanoid, traits."

'_Humanoid, yeah, that sounds about right..._' the sword clattered, '_Ah, something is on the tip of my tongue now..._'

I know it's an expression but you don't even have a tongue.

"Hmm... so Founder Brimir had human familiars..."

"Possibly. So what other human familiars do you know of?"

"Eh? Human? But I don... AH! Sauthoth!"

"That's right, _your_ familiar, Miss Valliere. That is the third point, Void Mages most likely do not summon beast familiars but human or humanoid familiars instead," the tutor raised a hand, "and before you ask, I have checked for records of any other humanoid familiar and there are none. You are the first in 6000 years, Miss Valliere."

"I'm the first in 6000 years...!" Louise tasted the assessment on her tongue. It felt odd and somehow wrong.

The secretary adjusted herself in her seat, "Yes, well, to summarize my theories: _One_, Void Magic cannot be used in conjunction with the other elements. _Two_, the rules concerning Void Magic is completely different from the other elements. And _Three_, a Void Mage's familiar tends to be a powerful humanoid. Please remember those three ideas, Miss Valliere."

"O-Of course!" she nodded her head fervently, "Thank you for all the help, Miss Longueville! I haven't received this much assistance since Professor Colbert."

Louise giddily drank her own cup of tea.

Things were finally going her way.

Her familiar had returned and right now he was busy gathering the rest of the Spire Objects, but when he comes back then he would definitely help improve her physical abilities. She also had a private tutor that could do in-depth research and possibly teach her some fundamental magic tricks.

And, on a lesser note, she could become even more capable than she was right now, if Snarl's comment about the Black Spire granting her more pillars as she grew in experience was any indications, anyways; in fact, a new Minion Pillar and Health Pillar had suddenly appeared for her the day after the incident with Count Mott.

She could almost swinging her legs under the desk. Almost.

...

Meanwhile the Overlord was punching Fire Dragons in the face while the Reds played rodeo on the scaly beasts' back.

...

Miss Longueville and Louise were outside in Valois and spent some hours figuring out the young girl's magic; Derflinger was left in the room all by his lonesome in the meantime.

As always, when using a wand, her magic is just an invisible concussive force that explodes.

However, when using the Devil Bringer, her willpower drain was much less. On the other hand, she could barely cast even dot-level spells. An experimentation with Candle Light showed that she could successfully cast a spell for a few seconds but then they end up exploding afterward anyways. Still, with practice she should be able to use the Devil Bringer just easily as she channels with a wand.

Though they couldn't attain any data about whether emotional changes brought about differences in Louise's magic or not.

The pink-haired girl also learned the limits of her own willpower.

One of the problems of Halkeginia Mage's Willpower-Reserve was that it ever rarely increased beyond its capacity from the day a mage is born and that there isn't a real way to measure it either; it's all trial-and-error by casting spell after spell and almost hitting dangerously close to willpower-depletion.

A lesser known fact was that the more a mage uses up willpower then the warmer their body became and there is even a tingling sensation for the less astute. While Louise had trained hard before, she didn't even realize that those were subtle signs of willpower-depletion, she had thought that she was simply experiencing tiredness from practicing Quick Spelling too much; now she knew better.

Also, the most important thing she learned was keeping herself well-armed.

While it wasn't unusual for a mage to carry around two foci, most only chose to carry around one.

It had a lot to do with their condescending attitudes, you see, dear readers, the thought that they could be disarmed almost never crosses their minds. They're just that full of themselves.

But otherwise, most mages with combat experience know that its much safer to always carry around two or three foci on their person at all times.

After all the practicing, the two female mages retreated back to Louise's room.

...

Having secured the Steel Smelter, a group of Red Minions were sent back to return it to the Black Spire. The Overlord is now staring into the mouth of a dark cave, one possible entrance that would lead to the ravine where the Slow Spell Stone was.

Without delay he marches in.

...

Louise and Miss Longueville were both seated back on their chairs and having another cup of tea; they were finished with the lessons for today as to not overtax the young novice, leaving a good chunk of the day still free.

Derflinger was muttering something to himself, '_That's right, ol' Derf here is just a boring talking sword. No need to chat it up with him. Just leave him in the corner for some hours while you gals go off and do whatever it is that ya do. Doesn't bother me at it!_'

Louise took this time to ask some questions unrelated to herself, "Miss Longueville, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" the little girl started.

"Depends on what the questions are," the secretary took off her glasses and placed them on the table.

"What was that business you said you had with the Viscount? With Wardes?"

The older woman gave a sharp glare that made Louise shift uncomfortably for abit before softening her glance.

"Let's say that the bastard had wronged me and I wanted revenge," the woman was being quite loose with her 'perfect secretary' image. She felt that it was more or less fine though because there was no point in hiding it from the Valliere who had seen more than enough already.

"I see..." Louise said as she took a sip, she didn't want to pry on the subject of the Griffin Knight, "Then what about afterward? Why did you stay behind in Albion and how did you get back to Tristain?"

The woman's finger traced the rim of her cup, "I had family in Albion and I wanted to get them out of that despicable country. As for how, the answer is that we commandeered a pirate ship."

"How did yo-"

"Do you honestly think a couple of pirates stood a chance against your familiar, Miss Valliere?"

"Oh, I see. And no, no I don't," Louise took a sip, "So where is your family now, Miss Longueville?"

"At the Palace with Princess Henrietta and the Crowned Prince. Those royals owe us a favor for saving both the Prince and some of his Royalists, so my family will be able to stay there for a while, atleast until we find some proper lodging for them."

"Why not here, in the Black Spire?"

The green-haired woman chuckled, "Ah, I'm sure the kids would love playing around with the minions but this place is too small."

"How about at the town, Valois? It's well guarded and a couple of the houses have been fully restored now."

The secretary blinked, "How did I miss something so simple? Yes, that sounds like a good idea, Miss Valliere. I think I'll pay them a visit at the capital tomorrow and bring them over," the woman smiled and Louise smiled back.

"By the way, Miss Valliere, I heard that you were chosen to be a bridesmaid to the Princess' wedding. Congratulations."

"Thank you," the girl took the compliment gracefully.

"The Headmaster told me that you have to write an edict. How is that coming along?"

"Eh?" Louise mumbled, "AH! I-I haven't even started!" she yelped as she clumsily brought out the Founder's Pray Book, "Oh no, this is bad!"

'_Ah? That notebook looks familiar... were have I seen that?_' the sentient sword perked up.

The ex-thief made a mental note to interrogate the rusted sword later. One way or another, it suspiciously knew alot, if its mumbling was anything to go by anyways.

The green head then sighed, "You haven't written a thing? You're aware that the wedding is in three weeks, are you, Miss Valliere?"

"O-Of course I am!" the little girl snapped back, "I-I'm just having alittle trouble coming up with the right phrases!"

The woman let out another sigh, "I suppose I'll have to help you with this too, Miss Valliere."

"T-Thank you..." the strawberry blond meekly let out.

Thus the private tutor spent the rest of the day helping the young noble girl with writing a poem.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Halkeginia Nobility II_ - While the Titles of Nobility are widely the same in use, how they are granted may differ between the countries.

Tristain, Gallia, and Albion were widely considered Traditional in their use of granting titles.

However, for the White Country, because it had recently become a Republic, the nature of titles may change within Albion.

Germania distinguishes itself by the fact that even Commoners can buy their Titles of Nobility as long as they have enough money. The number of Commoner Baron and Baroness, Viscount and Viscountess, and Count and Countess, are fairly high.

Romalia is an odd example because it is a religious country and mostly patriarchal. The King of Romalia is known as '_The Pope_' and there is officially no Queen or Prince and Princess either. Dukes are refered to as '_Bishops_.' Marquis are refered to as '_Priest_.' Counts and Barons are refered to as '_Deacon_.' All female counterparts are known as '_Blessed Mistress_.' And the title of Chevalier is known as '_Exorcist_.'  
Despite the odd technicalities, the Titles of Nobility are granted relatively the same way.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Now that **The Eighth Hero** is officially on hiatus, I'll probably work on another side-project. Right now, it seems that I'm typing out the rough-draft for my Minecraft idea.


	20. Treasures And Traps

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty - Treasures And Traps

* * *

Narrator Quick Report Mode.

The Overlord has successfully returned both the Steel Smelter and Slow Spell Stone to the Black Spire. He is now awaiting for the discovery of the Green and Blue Minion Hives by Snarl.

Louise has finished writing down her edict in the Founder's Pray Book and basically had an orgasm at using a spell that didn't explode on her, though she still hasn't killed Harley yet.

Miss Longueville's family has moved to Valois, and their members consist of a really busty blond and lots of orphan children; they absolutely love the Minions.

And now we can move on with the story!

...

Another week has passed and because of the Princess' coming wedding in alittle over two weeks, the school deemed it fit to release Summer Vacation eight weeks earlier.

Seriously, it's like Old Osmond finds whatever reasons he can to hold special events or cancel classes as soon as possible. That can't be good for education...

Miss Longueville, while a private tutor, was also still the head secretary to the academy and decided to use this time to finish up all the papers that had piled up during her absent in Albion or that she had simply put off in favor of tutoring our main heroine.

Meanwhile, Kirche was finally done with all her punishment and, with eight weeks more free-time than anybody had planned or expected, the busty red-haired Germanian decided to gather everyone up.

The group was all sitting on chairs, out on the Vestri Court, drinking tea at a single circular table.

Louise had nothing better to do, so she came along, followed by her two personal minion bodyguards: the Lazy-Eyed Brown and the One-Arm Derflinger-Wielding Brown. The Overlord was also there standing behind her.

Tabitha was dragged over and was reading a book as always.

Guiche and Montmorency were also called upon because the red head girl thought, '_Why not?_'

And Siesta had served the tea and cake and was now on stand-by listening in.

On the table were many worn-down treasure maps.

"Let's go treasure hunting~!" Kirche suggested.

Ah, treasure hunting. That brings back good memories for the Overlord. Taking those giant bags of gold from the greedy dwarves was very satisfying, especially since they had helped fund his Arcanium Set back in the day.

'_TREASAH FOR YOU!_' the One-Armed Minion said in the background. "_But weez no have treasurez for mastah_,' the Lazy-eyed Brown scratched its head. '_Stay classy, ya brown goblins. Stay classy!_' Derflinger shouted.

"Treasure hunting? Did you spend all the New Gold the Princess awarded you already, Zerbst?" Louise quipped.

"I find it hard to believe that someone could spend 1500 New Gold in alittle over two weeks," Guiche supplied his own opinion.

Speaking of the blond noble, he had split his reward with his girlfriend, Montmorency. Guiche was saving his money to buy her a special something, meanwhile the girl was already spending it on her secret project of sorts.

_PSSST._ I'm going point out that that was foreshadowing in advance. _Wink, wink, nudge, nudge._

"Of course not! Do you believe me a frivolous shopper?" the red head said with a hand on her chest.

You really seem the type.

"Of course." "Yes." "Well, yes." "Ya aren't?" And a 'nod' from Tabitha and Siesta.

The busty girl gave a quirk eyebrow before continuing, "Well, I am not, I still have my reward money in full. Anyways, I say that we should all go treasure hunting! Eight-weeks, that's enough time for atleast eight or nine trips~!"

Guiche took a hard look through the treasure maps, "No matter how I look at these, they all seem alittle too suspicious..."

"Well, I did get them from various places. Like from some magic shops, stalls, or general stores."

"Kirche," the blond's face scrunched abit, "You realize that there are some people who sell fake maps and call them treasure maps, right? There are even nobles that have become bankrupt because of these hoaxes."

"That attitude won't do at all! How weak!" the red head said as she slapped a hand on the table, "Most of these are pieces of junk but atleast one of them might be the real deal!"

Guiche opened his mouth only to close it right after. He knew when he wasn't going to win arguments.

"'_Might be_'? So you want us to go on a wild goose chase?" the blond girl snorted before Louise could point it out as the pink head was eating her delicious cake.

"As if you have anything better to do, Montmorency," the Germanian retorted.

The blond girl shot out of her chair, "Of course I do! Right now, I'm... I'm..." she began sweating alittle before sitting back down, "Nevermind, forget it," she huffed with crossed arms.

Kirche gave a piercing grin before moving on, "So, who's with me? If you are then raise your wand!"

The red head obviously raised her wand. Tabitha raised her staff because there was no way for the book lover to get out of this. Louise raised her own wand because she didn't find school exciting anymore or all that helpful for her new studies and training.

Guiche and Montmorency were the only ones who didn't raise their wands.

"Hmph! I'm busy," was all the drill-haired blond said.

"As if you would find treasure with maps like these," the blond boy said dryly.

"Oh well," the busty girl shrugged her shoulders, "Well then, let's have the rest of us meet up at the front entrance tomorrow morning~!"

...

"Treasure hunting, eh? I doubt that there's much treasure left to be had, Girly," the sentient sword stated.

Louise was combing her hair for the night and the sword was leaning on the side of her desk. Her two minion bodyguards were standing attention outside with her familiar.

"And why's that?"

"Because most of tah real treasures were made thousands of years ago. Won't surprise me if some of them have gotten lost or just ended up plain broke."

"But that doesn't mean they don't exist."

"Yeah, well, there's not much for the picking, Girly. By now, the royal folks have probably cleaned house. Hey, didn't ya say that gauntlet was something you got from a treasure vault here? Well, same thing. Most of them have probably already been taken."

"You're sounding awfully negative, Sword." Louise still wouldn't call Derflinger by name or his nickname of '_Derf_.'

"I'm just saying, Girly, don't be disappointed if ya find nothing of value. It takes luck to find rare artifacts. Like me! The Great Derflinger!"

"You're just a rusted sword."

The crossguard clattered loudly, "Oi, Girly! Don't be a fool! All this rust? That just tells you how old I am! My legend began in the Age of Chaos!"

Louise blinked, "Age of Chaos... but that was 6000 years ago!" she turned to look at the blade, "And what legend? I've haven't even heard of you until only a few weeks ago!"

"Bah, details!" the sword grumbled, "I'm an old and legendary sword that has been wielded by the best of the best, Girly! Ya should be grateful that you have a sword like me!"

"As if a rusted chatter-mouth of a sword is anything to write home about," the girl huffed with crossed arms, "Do you think I couldn't afford a new sword if I wanted to?"

"Oi! Oi! Oi! Ya think an ordinary blade has got anything on me?'! I got ninety-nine problems but magic ain't one! I'd like to see you get a sword that eats magic for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Little Girly!"

Louise quirked a brow, "You... '_eat_' magic?"

The sword paused, "Ah, yeah, I guess I do."

"You guess?"

"Oi, Girly! I'm an old sword and I tend to forget things. I'd like to see you try to remember anything once you're over a thousand years old!"

It should be mentioned that the Overlord is far older than a few thousands year old and the only reason he's still sane at all is because he could still remember things clearly and easily.

"Fine, whatever you say, Sword," Louise said tiredly and headed straight to bed.

Derflinger grumbled, '_Kids these days! No respect for their elders_.'

...

The next day, our heroes were waiting at the front gate.

There was Louise, the two Browns, and the Overlord, Tabitha and Sylphid, and Kirche by her lonesome. Also, Siesta was here for some reason. They all brought supplies but not to enough to actually last a wilderness trip of eight-weeks.

"Why are you here, Maid?" Louise asked, keeping her annoyance down.

"I'm here to cook your meals," she said politely with a bow.

"But we brought our own food."

"While you are searching for treasures, you'll be camping, correct? Then you won't be able to rely on getting new food from the towns. If I come along then I can cook good food for everybody from the animals you hunt."

Siesta wanted to come along partly because she's never been on an adventure or treasure hunt and partly because, just maybe, she could pick up a few extra money while she was at it. She had a bigger family than average and they needed as much money as they could get, since most of them were children and couldn't be properly employed yet.

Also, she'd be near the Overlord and Founder knows that she'll be safe with him around.

"Good thinking, Maid!" Kirche said before pulling out eight treasure maps, that was about one-fourth of the amount she had shown yesterday, and displayed them proudly to Louise, "With the help of Tabitha," she stated, "We've narrowed down our search to these eight artifacts!"

Louise spoke out the treasure names while Kirche added in the details.

"Brisingamen." "A necklace made from 'Blazing Gold' that would protect the wearer from any disaster!"

"Mjolnir." "A hammer enchanted with atleast Triangle-Class Lightning Magic!"

"Megingjoro." "A belt that doubles the wearer's strength!"

"Svalinn." "A shield that can block even the strongest of fire!"

"Gram." "A sword that can slay dragons with ease!"

"Gungnir." "A spear that can pierce through any defense!"

"Gleipnir." "Unbreakable chains!"

"Ellida." "Also known as the 'Dragon's Raiment,' it's suppose to let the user fly into the sky without Wind Magic!"

The maid perked up, "Did you say... The Dragon's Raiment?"

"Yes," Kirche blinked, "Why? Have you heard of it, Commoner?"

"Yes, I do, milady. That is... because it is located next to my hometown, Tarbes, and also because... my grandfather was the owner."

"Really?'!" the red head said excitedly, "Go on, tell me more~!"

"It's just a hoax," she said in a lower voice, "It's one of those 'treasures' that you can find anywhere else. One day, my grandfather appeared in the village and said that he came from the distant east using the Dragon's Raiment. However, nobody believed him. Whenever somebody asked him to fly it, he would make a bunch of excuses saying that it '_couldn't fly anymore_.' Still, my grandfather had worked hard to earn money to place a Preservation spell on it and treated it with alot of care."

Kirche quickly made up her mind, "Even if it's a fake, there are plenty of ways to sell them," she said devilishly, "There are all kinds of people in this world, after all."

"As expected, you're a horrible woman, Zerbst," Louise chimed in.

She ignored the insult, "Well then, let's go!" the busty red head said as she jumped up onto Sylphid.

...

It took less than eight days to go through seven of the eight treasure maps.

Normally speaking, alot of planning would have been necessary when trying go through the horde of monsters that lived near the treasures or that prowled the night, but with the Overlord in tow that barely registered as a problem at all; the demi-god stood watch all night long and made short work of anything that looked at him funny.

Plus, with Sylphid's swift speed, our heroines were able to go anywhere in Tristain taking as long as a few hours at most. Like right now, they would be at Tarbes in another hour or so.

"I would have brought along all the maps if I knew this was going to happen," the red head remarked at the incredibly fast treasure hunt.

"Why bother?" Louise huffed, "All we've gotten are junk."

Siesta on the other hand had a hefty bag. As a Commoner, her living expenses were far less expensive than a Noble's and all the 'junk' could easily be sold for a relatively good sum of money.

Kirche brushed back her hair, "If the Dragon's Raiment is real then a few of the other treasures might be real as well."

"'_Might_,'" Louise emphasized.

"Whatever," the Germanian quickly brushed off, "Next stop is Tarbes and the Ellida."

Siesta coughed into her fist, "I'm sorry, milady, but you won't be able to take that with you. It's both a family heirloom and a treasure that the people worship."

"We're also only stopping for a quick look, Zerbst," the pink head added, "I need to be back at the academy tomorrow. There should be a carriage waiting to take me to Germania for the Princess' wedding."

"Ah, you were chosen as the bridesmaid, weren't you? Try not to embarrass yourself on stage, Louise~!"

"Shut up, Zerbst."

...

At a tiny corner of Tarbes sat a hangar. Unlike the many stone-buildings that Halkeginia used, this structure was completely made out of wood for the most part.

Inside the building was the Ellida, the Dragon's Raiment, looking as new as the day it had arrived in Halkeginia some generations ago. Its real identity was that of an aircraft known as a '_Zero Fighter_.'

Not that anybody here would know that because everybody here is both technologically illiterate and the technology doesn't even belong to this world. Honestly, first a M72 Rocket Launcher and now a Zero Fighter? What's next? A tank?

Tabitha was looking at it with curiosity and the two browns were running circles around it.

Derflinger clattered, "Call this a 'Dragon'? Looks more like some kind of funny-looking whale or dolphin, if ya ask me."

"This thing can't fly," Kirche said disappointed.

"Looks like a canoe with boards attached to it," Louise tilted her head and thought, '_I think Professor Colbert would love it to see it though_.'

The red head let out a sigh with a hand on her forehead.

After staying for dinner at Siesta's home, our heroes returned to Tristain Academy of Magic shortly afterward.

...

The maid Siesta had decided to stay behind and help her family at Tarbes. She unloaded her stuff and asked a local merchant to sell off the items for her; the profit split would be seventy/thirty.

Meanwhile Tabitha was back in her own room reading a book and Kirche was shuffling through her treasure maps looking through them thoroughly trying to identify the reals from the fakes.

Louise lightly prepared for tomorrow before she went to sleep early, though she had a hard time falling asleep because she was slightly on edge for the trip to Germania.

...

The next morning, our strawberry blond heroine woke-up extra early to prepare for the trip but was interrupted half-way through her packing by a telepathic message by Snarl.

"Morning, Master. News, I have."

Louise felt a drop of sweat, Snarl never brought any good news.

"And what would that be?"

"Border of Tristain, Albion airships there are. Trickery, they've played."

"W-What? What do you mean by that?" Louise did not like the use of 'trickery' here, not after the last time Snarl used it on her.

"War, they've started. Invasion, this is," the old green confirmed.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Tristain_ - One of the five countries of Halkeginia, it is the second smallest country bordered by the Perseus Sea on the north, Germania on the upper-right, and Gallia at the south. Despite having the smallest population of all the countries, Tristain's military might is on par with the other nations because they have the highest concentration of mages enlisted in the military. Tristain also has the most diverse Imperial Guards, such as the widely known all-commoner-and-all-female Musketeer Corps, the hunting-dogs trackers Hounds Corp, the mage knights fighter Mage Knight Corps, and so forth.

Tristain is known as 'the World Country' due to the fact that, despite being one of the smallest nations geographically, it is the most diverse of all the countries with the most variances of magical beasts, people, habitats, and so forth.

The Royal Family of Tristain's colors are 'Dark Blue with White and Gold trims' and their symbol is 'a Shield wearing a Crown and held up by Two Swords.'

* * *

**Author Notes**

All the items' names are real and taken from Norse mythology. Whether the interpretation of their abilities is accurate or not, or just completely made up, is an entirely different subject...

As for why I'm using Norse names, that is because canonically The Familiar of Zero uses Norse names alot of time. For example, the Alviss Dining Hall, the Ball of Frigg, the Norori, Austri, Suori, and Vestri Court; those are all Norse-based. There are few more than haven't appeared yet, such as the Ring of Andvari, the Ball of Sleipnir, the Hero of Ivaldi, and Jormungand.

French, Greek, and some other European languages are also widely used in canon.


	21. Live Free Or Fly Hard

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty One - Live Free Or Fly Hard

* * *

Earlier today, a small fleet of Tristain airships, lead by the flagship '_Mercator_,' were sitting above the skies of the port city Bourbon. They were awaiting the arrivals of the new Holy Republic of Albion's airships; as Tristain had officially extended an arm of friendship to them and decided to stupidly invite the new Albion government as guests to the wedding.

A small fleet of Albion airships lead by the Lexington descended from the skies above and greeted the Tristain Sky Navy with a cannon-fire salute. The Tristainnians returned the welcome but an Albion airship called the '_Hogard_' had '_mysteriously_' caught fire and exploded.

The Albion fleet was quick to blame the Tristain Sky Navy and claimed it as an act of war. A one-sided skirmish occurred as Albion's new long-range cannons decimated the Tristainnian fleet.

However, despite their air-dominance over Bourbon, the Albion fleet was forced to retreat from the city as the fortified ground forces could shoot them down and the Albians could not risk destroying the city due to its geographic importance as a supply route for the coming Albion Invasion of Tristain.

Quickly flying further into enemy territory while Tristain had yet to mount a proper defense, the Albion fleet greedily eyed the large fields of Tarbes as the perfect place to deploy their ground-troops.

By the time the news of the Battle of Bourbon arrived at the Palace of Tristain, the Nobles were still preparing for the wedding and were promptly thrown into mass confusion.

As the officials bumbled about, Princess Henrietta de Tristain quickly realized the situation: it was not the Holy Republic of Albion invading but rather it was truly Reconquista controlling the scenes from behind. The exiled Crowned Prince Wales Tudor de Albion, who was granted asylum, gave her a reaffirming nod.

The Princess took charge and stormed out of the palace, ripping off the dress of her wedding gown, the royal called upon her personal guards and rallied the troops to Tarbes. The uncalled for Imperial Guards also quickly mobilized and marched forward to meet their young royal.

The exiled Prince, and his sixty retainers that survived the Battle of Newcastle, were already marching right alongside Princess Henrietta.

The loyal Cardinal Bishop Mazarin, adviser to the previous King of Tristain and now his daughter the Princess of Tristain, slapped the indecisive Nobles silly and shamed them into following the Princess to war.

All the meanwhile, the small Tristain Force lead by the Lord of Tarbes, Marquis Pierre Gautier de Tarbes, were fighting a losing battle trying to prevent the Albion Forces from gaining ground.

...

"War, they've started. Invasion, this is," the old green confirmed. At this point of time, the Mercator was shot down. "Confused, Tristain is. Albion gaining ground, they are."

"A-Albion is attacking?'! They're invading?'!" Louise yelped, "C-Can we win?'!"

"Tristain alone, they cannot."

"W-What about Germania? Tristain has an alliance with them, so are they sending in reinforcement?'!"

"Alliance not set, it is. Certain, I cannot say, but wait it out, the Germanians most likely will."

"WHAT?'! They would leave Tristain to burn?'! Why in the Founder's name would they do that?'! Those barbarians!"

"Domination through salvation. Debts and favors, they can attain."

Louise grit her teeth at the underhanded ploy, "What... what can we do...?" she growled.

The elder minion chuckled, "Tristain alone, they cannot win. But Tristain alone? They are not."

"Who? Who is helping us?" the pink head pleaded to know.

"You, that would be."

"Wha?"

"Faithful servants, we are, Little Master. Command, you say, and follow, we do. Fight, we shall, but who to fight for, choice is yours, Little Master."

Louise slowly and frustratedly ponders her all options, all the scenarios, and all the consequences of getting involved into a direct war. Thus twenty minutes silently pass by.

"Quickly, you should choose. Precious Princess, marches to battle, she does. But beyond her grasp, victory is."

"W-What?'! The Princess is?'!"

"Almost to Tarbes, she heads."

Tarbes again? Wait, isn't that where Siesta is staying?

"Y-You should have told me that sooner, Snarl!" the pink head shouted as she stormed out her room.

The Overlord stood outside in the hallway, having heard everything he was eager to rush into battle but stood patient; he awaited to hear his little master's decision.

"Sauthoth!" she called for his attention, "Albion is invading and the Princess is marching to Tarbes as we speak. Prepare yourself, my familiar, for we are going to her aid!"

The demi-god gave a nod and the master and familiar pair ran to the school entrance.

...

"Miss Longueville, what are you doing here?" Louise inquired as she saw the secretary preparing a single fire dragon.

"Oh, I was just paying my family a visit when Snarl needed me for something," the woman said with a final inspection, "I heard you were going to Tarbes, Miss Valliere, so I'm sure you would need a swift ride if you wanted to get there in time; an hour-and-a-half on dragon compared to the three on horse," she hopped up onto the saddle of the beast, "So come on, get on, we don't have all day."

"B-But I need to go and summon some mini-"

"Don't worry, Miss Valliere, your familiar can handle that," the woman said as she placed out a hand.

Louise turned to look at her familiar only to notice that he was already walking to the Tower Gate by himself. The strawberry blond huffed at being ignored and reached for her tutor's hand.

"I hope that means we have a plan," the little girl said, now realizing that she didn't have any real idea how to handle Albion's invading fleet. She didn't know if she could make a difference but she was going to damn well try.

"Of course we do," the ex-thief said with a grin, "Do you honestly think that we would rush into a battle without one?" and then her grin changed into a smirk, "And let me tell you, its going to be a crazy one, Miss Valliere."

...

The village of Tarbes was burning to the ground as the fierce Albian Fire Dragon Knight's swarmed the skies. The helpless villagers escaped into the nearby forest as they watched their homes turn to ash before being ushered by the Tristain Guards to take to the roadside and further evacuate from there.

The Lord of Tarbes' forces consisted of many crossbowmen, riflemen, and swordsmen, but hardly any mages. Thus, the crossbowmen and riflemen were unable to shoot down the flying invaders; as the mage riders chose to bombard with magic from high above, only going low to swoop down and scatter their formations or prey on lone troopers.

Worst yet, the Dragon Knights were supported by the warships raining cannon-fire onto the Tristainnian forces. The Albians had yet to deploy their ground troops until they had absolute air supremacy over Tarbes, therefore they had no fear of accidentally injuring their own forces.

"Protect the villagers!" Marquis Pierre Gautier shouted, standing at the front-lines to provide morale, "Lead them away to safety!"

As much as the man was a Marquis and as much as he was bound to duty, the man was a clear thinker. With his forces alone, it would not be possible to fight against the attacking Albian Sky Navy. There was no way for him to mount an offensive, he could only defend and hold out, hoping that the reinforcements would arrive soon.

"Swordsmen with your shields to the front! Raise them up and protect us against the flames!" the Lord Noble shouted more orders, "Bowmen and riflemen, stand attention! Shoot down anything approaching within range!"

He watched as the Dragon Knights circled the skies. He eyeballed and estimated the enemy forces: 400 Fire Dragon Knights, 8 small battle-airships, 6 medium carriers, and 1 large war-airship. Concerning the carriers, he approximated them carrying around 600-750 troopers each, for a total of 3600-4500 ground troopers ready to be deployed; most likely all veteran fighters from the Albion Civil War.

And this was only the vanguard fleet.

While the rest of the Albian Sky Navy were protecting their country, another small detachment force was probably well on its way to support the first fleet; it would be basic strategy to reinforce a strategic foothold afterall.

The Marquis could only hope that the Tristainnian Army could organize itself well enough to repel the second wave or stop this one.

"Maintain formation! BACKWARD MARCH, 50 PACES!" the man loudly shouted as he noticed that one of the carriers was landing in the outskirt of Tarbes, "SITUATION REPORT! Are the villagers safe?'!"

"Sir! All villagers have been evacuated to Bourbon!"

A sole eager Albian Dragon Knight came rushing in only to be filled with arrows and bullets.

"Good!" the Lord of Tarbes stated, "Hold the line! Let them push us back no further!"

Valiantly, Marquis Pierre Gautier stood and fought. His arm was destroyed by cannon-fire and he had two swords in guts, he laid on the floor as his eyes flickered and viewed the smoke cover skies. In the corner of his eyes, he spotted an incoming flock of dragons coming from the direction of the capital.

The man grinned, '_Long live, Tristain...!_' he said with his final breath.

...

Princess Henrietta marched with nearly the whole of the Tristain Royal Army at 2500 soldiers strong.

The National Army, at whole, was about 25,000 men strong, however she could not expect their aid because the Marquis were all expected to protect their own borders from further invasion. Furthermore, Germania had already said that it would take three weeks to mobilize their own forces.

So there was no help coming to their aid.

Problematically, according to her scouts that were further ahead, the enemy forces was nearly double her own current army and the types of troops deployed were also completely in the enemy's favor. While her forces could boast about 600 Riders, 600 battle-capable Imperial Guards, 300 Royal Officials, and 1100 Commoners; the Albion Forces were at around 400 Riders, 3600 Commoners, and 15 warships.

Though the Tristain Forces could overwhelm the commoner ground-forces through mage-craft, air superiority in this battle was far more important; as Albion's new long-range cannon-fire had already proven itself to be absolutely fatal when it had decimated Tristain's Sky Navy, it was naturally just as deadly against grounded troops.

Even if the Princess hadn't rush out and instead gave her army enough time to organize a proper aerial fleet, their Sky Navy wouldn't be able to approach under the enemy's flagship 108 long-distance cannon-fire.

In other words, with or without airships, Tristain still wouldn't be able to even touch the Albion Fleet.

Not only that, because the young royal wanted to intervene as quickly as possible, she was marching her troops too quickly and whittling down their stamina; further lowering her army's effectiveness against the ground forces and losing what slight advantages she might have originally had.

The kind but naive Princess Henrietta was simply unfit to be a commander in war and it would take a miracle of a god for Tristain to win.

But the Gods have always been fickle, uncaring, and unreliable jerks. You can't count on those divinity to help.

So how about a demi-god instead?

...

Louise was at the far outskirts of the field of Tarbes when she had spotted the Princess' coming army. Urging the secretary to meet with the soldiers, Miss Longueville landed a ways further and had the dragon walked from there.

"Louise Francoise?'! What are you doing out here?'!" the Princess said shocked at seeing her best friend so close to the front-lines.

"I'm here to help you, of course!" our heroine said as she hopped off the dragon and walked forward.

The royal shook her head, "I appreciate your sentiments, Louise, but this is a war. You should not be here; you could get yourself killed."

"I cannot retreat, Your Highness," the strawberry blond said adamantly, "I could not call myself a Valliere or a Noble if I abandoned the Crown here, nor could I myself your best friend if I ran away doing nothing!"

The Princess daintily frowned at the fact that she had nothing to say back to the other girl.

"We have a plan, Your Highness," said Miss Longueville going into Fouquet Mode, "It is a drastic plan but it's the best chance you have at beating Albion with your current forces."

The Exiled Prince moved forward, "Your plan involves the Black Knight, I presume?" he was informed by his retainers of the events that had transpired when he was knocked out at Newcastle. So he was aware of just how _effective_ the demi-god was.

The ex-thief smiled savagely, "The Black Knight."

On cue, the Overlord's mighty stomps are heard as he runs while empowered by his runes and makes a full-stop behind Louise. His intimidating presence scaring those who have yet to personally see him before now and the guards nervously tighten their formation to shield their princess from the new frightening guest.

A scout moves in to inform the the Princess of something. She blinks at the news before turning back to her friend.

Fouquet grinned knowingly, "Don't worry, Princess, those Fire Dragons are on our side."

"What? How did you know?" Henrietta blinked, "Whose dragons are they? Are they secret reinforcements from Germania? Gallia? Perhaps Romalia?"

"No, none of those," the woman chuckled, "That's because they're the army of the Black Knight."

_BA-BANG!_ How do you like them apples?'!

The Overlord punching dragons instead of killing them? Bringing an army of Reds that rode rodeo on them?

This was totally foreshadowed, dear readers.

...

There, in the skies above Tarbes, were 120 Fire Dragons flying into the heat of battle.

On their backs were four Red Minions; one rider and three gunners.

While the the Fang Claw Mountain's Fire Dragons were much weaker than Albion's Fire Dragon in all aspect, from strength to speed, there was one extreme advantage that this minion-controlled army had over the invading army...

And that was Fire Power.

Literally.

Fire Dragons had a fiery breath but the glaring flaw was that they were not projectiles like the Fireball spell but a stream of fire like the Flamethrower spell. Thus, in battle, the breath attack was strongly a short-ranged weapon that couldn't be use whilst moving. This was compensated by having mages as riders, however that also had a problem where the rider had to learn how to cast their magic and control their dragon at the same time, which generally decreased their speed at casting spells even with Quick Spelling.

The Red Minions didn't have such a problem. They were naturally instant experts at riding fire-typed beasts and, what's more, they could throw fireballs without the need to chant. For added bonus, their flames were quick to burn and extremely difficult to put out.

After the first dozen Dragon Knights spontaneously combusted and fell off their beast to suffer a agonizing death, the Albion Riders were quickly forced to retreat or risk being pelted by the rain of fire.

An extreme aerial dogfight began as the Reds gleefully hunted down their flammable targets while avoiding getting too close to the Albion Warships and risk being riddled with pointy arrows.

...

"So what exactly would this plan be of yours, Miss Longueville?" the Prince said as he watched the blackened and dragon-swarmed skies.

"Oh, you remember my name? It's an honor, Prince," she gave a mocking bow, "As for the plan, I believe that's up to the Princess to decide."

"If you would, please, I would like to make my decision after I hear what this plan of yours is," at the very least she was willing to listen. While Albion was pushed back for now, it would not last. They needed to strike while the iron was hot.

"Of course," the secretary said before giving a nod to Louise, "It's all yours, Miss Valliere."

The strawberry blond stepped up, "Our plan requires several Triangle Class Earth Mages," her explanation began.

'_This plan is insane_,' one of the female guards was noted to say with a chuckle.

...

The Overlord stared up upon the Albion Flagship, the Lexington. He remembered the warship from his trip to Albion and it was massively impressive as ever with both its size and the 108 cannons that it was equipped with. It was high above in the sky, taking advantage of its long-range cannons, and firing death of pure blunt force trauma all over the battlefield.

While the Minions were safe on their speedier flying dragons, the Tristain Army couldn't be said to be quite as lucky; 2500 people isn't something you miss in a wide open field like Tarbes, thus the cannons were aimed their way.

The demi-god was expending the most mana he has ever done in his entire life; it was a trickle in the massive reserves of Infernal Energy he stored from his time in the Abyss, but still far more than he had ever used. In fact, he hasn't used this much since his fight with the weakened Forgotten God.

He was creating a thick layer of protective Combustion against the cannonballs. It was an equally shocking sight for both sides to see; for Tristain it was a single entity performing magic that would probably be on par with the mythical Ancient Magic, and for Albion it was giant wall of flames as though hell itself erupted onto the mortal plains.

The Overlord continued to watch as he waited for the plan to come to fruition. For now he was playing the defensive but soon he would be on the offensive.

"Sauthoth!" his little master called, "We're ready!"

The demi-god turned around to face a towering Earth Golem that was even larger than the one Fouquet had used during her raid for the Staff of Destruction.

It was a shame that he wouldn't be fighting this one either.

The Gigantic Earth Golem plucks him off the ground with a grace and speed that one wouldn't have expected from a giant magical construction and throws the Overlord straight at the Lexington. The demi-god bursts through minions, dragons, and humans alike, turning them into exploding paste and morbidly raining their flesh upon the world as he speeds through the skies.

The armored titan plows through the underside of the flagship and emerges upon its topside.

Gathering more Infernal Energy stored in his Overcore, he creates a giant raging inferno and swallows up the entire Albion Fleet. The ball of fire falls to the blessed earth like a setting sun and the Albian Ground Forces are quick to scramble out of the way.

As the ball fire touches the ground, it disappears only to reveal that it held thousands of lightly burned Albion soldiers moaning or writhing in pain.

You see, the Princess was very adamant about causing the least amount of casualties possible, and only agreed with the plan if the Albian soldiers were taken in as prisoners rather than outright killed. Thus, the Overlord had to filter out living things from being turned to ashes when using his giant Combustion spell. Though, with such a oversimplification, it couldn't differentiate between ally or foe and so even the Reds were caught in the mighty magic.

And there, in the center of it all, stood an unmistakable figure: the Black Knight.

The Albian ground forces shook in fear as they realized and recognized that they stood in the presence, in the midst, of the infamous Black Knight. The very same one that forced an army of nearly 50,000 to retreat at the Battle of Newcastle.

When the Tristain Forces quickly arrived and surrounded them, the invading soldiers immediately put down their arms and surrendered.

The invasion came to a sudden end and the Tristain Troops cheered.

They won. They won and they were alive.

"LONG LIVE HER HIGHNESS! LONG LIVE THE PRINCESS! LONG LIVE PRINCESS HENRIETTA!"

"LONG LIVE HER MAJESTY! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"

"LONG LIVE TRISTAIN!"

...

In the background, a strawberry blond girl heads to the giant black knight.

She looked on with pride at the large figure, "I don't believe I ever said it before, Sauthoth... but you're the best familiar I could ever ask for. I, not for a single moment, ever regret summoning you," she said with her hands on her hips, "And I want to thank you for choosing to become my familiar."

The black knight stood silent.

The girl turned to look at the field to see the relief and joyous faces of her fellow countrymen before turning her gaze back upon the armored man, "You're a hero, Sauthoth. You're everybody's hero. And you're _my_ hero too," she gave off a wide smile, "To become a master worthy of you, I can't be nothing less than a hero, can I? Jeez, you stupid familiar, always making trouble for me."

The demi-god gave himself a mental chuckle. He was her hero, was he? He reached out a hand and ruffled his little master's hair. She who freed him from his eternal prison of the Abyss. She who gave him hope when all he had left was despair. She who was like a daughter that he never had.

She too was a hero.

She was _his_ hero.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

Typical Germanian weddings in the Royal Family are very extravagant and are a nearly a two-week event. A week-long party is held in the Palace and Capital of Vindobon and the bride and groom are not technically sworn in until the end of the first week. The next three days are considered the after-party and is the time where the couple is expected to consummate their marriage and sire a heir.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Bourbon is French, and yeah, I just took another French name/word and slapped it onto a non-canon town/city.

In other news...

My Minecraft Fanfic has been posted, the name is '_World/Fate New_' though the '/' didn't go through so it's actually '_WorldFate New_.' Since its a side-project, and each chapter is relatively short, it won't interfere with Zero's Noble Overlord updates. Thank you, if you checked it out.

I also have a Neon Genesis Evangelion and a Sekirei fanfic from awhile back; and I want to make a 'One-Shot Fanfic' that contains, well, all of my trial ideas to display in 'one story.' Is there or is there not a category I can choose to do that? If at all? Thank you for answering.


	22. The Queen's Strawberry And Knight

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Two - The Queen's Strawberry and Knight

* * *

The sneaky Albion Invasion of Tristain was halted within the same day that it had occurred.

It was not only an absolute shock to the Holy Republic of Albion but also to the neighboring Germania.

Tristain was expected to crumble to the Albian Forces before the Germanian Army would intervene with a swift and decisive rescue and put the World Country into its debt. However that did not happen. Instead, the entire Albion Fleet were decimated within the blink of an eye, yet nearly all the soldiers from both sides only suffered minimal human deaths.

Germania was extremely wary of whatever secret weapon the Tristainnian Army had deployed and so stayed quiet when Tristain declared the marriage between Princess Henrietta de Tristain and King Albrecht III de Germania to be canceled. However, the Warrior Country made extremely sure that the military alliance was still going through, as they obviously could not risk losing such a valuable ally against Albion, and, if luck provided it, discover whatever Tristain's secret weapon was.

The Tristainnians were quite aware of that and made sure that Germania understood that Tristain would have an upper-hand in politics now.

Young Princess Henrietta sighed a breath of relief at her new-found freedom. She had managed to avoid marrying someone she did not love but still attained the military alliance with Germania.

On the other hand, the young royal had new and heavier responsibilities on her shoulders. She was praised as a 'Saint' for her spectacular victory and was expected to now take the empty throne.

Though her mother, Her Majesty The Queen, Queen Marianne de Tristain, was the technical ruler since the previous king, King Charles de Tristain, had passed away, it was no secret that the elder woman was unable to handle the politics of royal life. In fact, Henrietta was already doing much of the political work, though most would agree that Cardinal Bishop Mazarin had quite the influence in the Royal Courts as well.

Still, it was almost without a doubt that the young woman would become the new Queen of Tristain. She could hardly refuse, especially when her, secret-but-not-so-secret-lover, the exiled Crowned Prince Wales Tudor de Albion had congratulated her.

Meanwhile, though both Tristain and Albion were technically and officially in war-time, there was an immense lull and cease-fire in combat between the two countries as both properly prepared their forces for a truly engaging and lasting war.

Thus, Princess Henrietta was quickly crowned and became Queen Henrietta de Tristain.

And she found it Founder damn tiring.

Because they were in war-time, there was alot of domestic and foreign politics that Henrietta was expected to fully do on her own, as the Royal Adviser, Cardinal Bishop Mazarin, was doing less and less of the work and speaking out only when he absolutely thought Henrietta's decision would severely affect Tristain negatively.

The young royal really missed being just a princess.

...

Louise was walking down the hallway of the Palace to the meet with the Prince-, _ah_, Queen. It would be the first time the young noble has spoken with her since the Invasion of Tarbes due to its busy aftermath.

Our strawberry blond was an unusual sight, as she was a mage but had a gauntlet on her left hand and a sword strapped to her back. That sword was Derflinger. After Louise had tested the blade's anti-magical abilities to be real, it was unanimously agreed that she was much safer with the sword around especially because she refused to wear full-body armor like her familiar did.

Meanwhile, the One-Armed Minion was slightly dejected over losing the funny talking sword but quickly overcame that grief when it was given a new shinier sword.

Continuing on... the little noble was trailing behind a woman, and the Overlord was walking slightly behind, and that young woman was Chevalier Agnes de Milan, Captain of the Musketeer Corps, an irregular, or 'non-standard,' division of the Imperial Guards that personally only answers and serves to Queen Henrietta de Tristain.

The woman captain had short orange-blond hair and sharp lime-green eyes. The uniform of the Musketeer Corps was a white cloak, adorn with the Tristain's symbol of the 'Two-Sword Crowned Shield' on the shoulders. A long-sleeve black shirt underneath a dullish green chain-mail and white tights. The armor consisted of two pauldrons, two gauntlets, and two greaves, while the weaponry was a pistol and sword attached to the belt.

The Musketeer Corps was an all women commoner group, thus there was not a single man or mage to be found in this unique division. Of course, quite a few of the other Imperial Guards, particularly the Rider Corps, weren't fond of them at all because of that.

Even our dear Louise thought of the captain as a 'uppity commoner' but recognized that the title of 'Chevalier' meant that the woman soldier was due some respect atleast. Especially since the knight was also the personal guard of her best friend.

The pink-haired girl was guided to the throne room and there inside was Prince Wales and Prince-, _blugh_, Queen Henrietta. Louise gave a respectful bow as the large doors closed behind them.

"Louise, ah, my dear Louise Francoise!" Henrietta said warmly and ran up to embrace the girl. She was getting so tired of acting like a ruler in the presence of other people.

Wales followed down the steps with a chuckle, bemused at the queen's friendly and warm interaction, and stood at the sidelines with Musketeer Agnes.

"Princess...! Ah, no, I should be calling you 'Queen' now."

The royal pulled herself out of the hug while still gripping Louise's shoulders and looked her into the face, "Enough with such heavy formality, Louise, you are my best friend, are you not? Then please, 'Henrietta' is just fine."

The two girls got into a small argument about it, but the pink-haired Valliere eventually relented, "Then I will continue to call you 'Princess' just like before."

"Ah~! Yes, please do that for me, my dear Louise~"

What's the point of becoming Queen if you're just going to have people call you 'Princess' again? What a waste.

Henrietta continued, "Ah, how I wish that I did not become queen... It is twice as boring, three times more straining, and ten times more worrisome than being a princess."

The Overlord wouldn't know what that is like because he had let Rose and Gnarl handle most of the politics back home. He was a judge and executioner, and by the time most convicted members reached him after their trials, it was without a shadow of a doubt that his two advisers had execution in mind.

"Louise, I must thank you for your assistance at Tarbes," the queen stated with a light bow, "It is because of you that Tristain was able to achieve victory that day."

"Please, Princess, I did not a do a thing. It was all my familiar's doing," Louise said gesturing to the Overlord.

"Of course," the royal said understandingly, "But it is written that the achievement of the familiar is also the achievement of the master. Furthermore, it was you that came rushing to my aid, was it not? Then you are just as responsible for bringing victory to Tristain as your familiar had in fighting the battle, Louise Francoise. Truly, I cannot thank you enough, Louise," and she gave an acknowledging nod to the demi-god, "and your familiar for all that you two have done for Tristain."

Louise gave a wry smile, it felt odd for her to accept the praise for the deeds that her familiar performed. Perhaps, in another world, if she had a beast for a familiar then she would have gladly accepted it, but that was not the case, her familiar was human, or atleast human enough, that his achievements should be recognized as his own.

In fact, Louise wholeheartedly believed that her familiar would have ran to rescue of Tarbes regardless of whether she chose to help or not. At first she had thought that it was for the maid, but on brief occasions when she looked into his eyes, such as the time at the end of the Invasion of Tarbes, she could catch a glimpse of just what he was thinking: and he was thinking of her.

In other words, the Overlord would have gone and fought the battle so that the war would not reach his little master. He was brutal and intimidating when necessary but a kind soul laid beneath all that power and armor.

She felt that he was always that kind of person with that unique charisma of his. She couldn't find the proper words but perhaps she was looking for something like 'Noble.' The strawberry blond could easily imagine that back in his homeland, her familiar was probably not just a knight but an actual ruler, an experienced king.

And that king had actually _chosen_ to become her familiar.

Normally such a thing would have put immense burden on Louise's shoulders, yet it didn't. Many people, including herself, have pressured her into becoming the best mage as fast as possible, but her familiar was different and took his time. Instead, he helped carry her burdens, he was patient with her, he did not force her but instead chose to support her, and the difference made all the world to the pink-haired girl.

Slowly, without realizing it, Louise's wry smile had turned into a happy grin.

Prin-, _argh_, Queen Henrietta. _Queen Henrietta_. By slimy slugs, I am not used to calling her 'Queen.'

_Ah..._ Anyways, Queen Henrietta returns the pink head's unknowing smile and spoke, "Thus, I wish to reward you two with the greatest of gratitude."

"Reward?" our heroine blinked and the smile was gone.

"Yes, a reward," the royal nodded, "The victory achieved at Tarbes was the most brilliant of outcomes. Never in the whole history of Halkeginia has such a stunning victory been won. An invasion was stopped all thanks to you and your familiar; by all means, you should be granted the title of 'Duchess,' perhaps even 'Archduchess,' and given a sizable territory to own, while your familiar should receive a Title of Peerage."

Just to explain, a 'Duchy' was simply the name for territories owned by Dukes and Duchess'. However, the territory is enormous. You know the distance between the Tristain Academy of Magic and the Capital Tristainia is about four hours on a speeding horse? Imagine about two times that; that is how much land a lesser Duke owns. Louise's deeds would have given her atleast three times of that, I repeat, _atleast_ three times that amount.

Just as Louise was about to refuse the reward, the Queen did it for her, "But I unfortunately cannot give you the proper rewards you deserved. Though I cannot hide the fact that your familiar is... famous amongst the soldiers, I can still keep the fact that you are his master a secret. Should anyone learn of your familiar's strength and your involvement in the battle, then you will surely become a target. Should an enemy learn this secret then they would become frantic and do anything they can to capture you and force your familiar into submission," the royal shook her head and looked at Louise with fiery eyes, "I will not put you into such danger, my dear Louise Francoise. Only I, the Queen of Tristain, should be a target and bear their greed and animosity."

"Princess..." the pink head muttered.

Queen Henrietta sighed and gave an almost wry smile, "And our enemies outside are not the only ones to be concerned about. Even here, inside the palace... there are those would definitely try to get such power under their control for their own purposes," she continued speaking gently, "At the moment, the Royal Court believes your familiar to be a far-away mercenary hired by your father to be your bodyguard, and I have made sure to inform your father to uphold the charade. With this, anybody who wishes for the power of your familiar will most likely try to go through either your father or try to recruit your familiar directly, and I am sure that both will ignore such advances."

Yeah, good luck getting the Overlord to talk.

Louise gave a knowing nod.

The Queen cleared her throat, "But there is a favor I must ask of you, Louise."

What? Again? You know the last time you asked Louise for a favor it almost got it her abducted by a traitor and killed? Yeah, totally bad.

"Anything, Princess," the pink head agreed all too easily.

"I would like you to become my Court Lady."

"Your Court Lady?" our heroine repeated.

"Yes. These are turbulent times, Louise Francoise. Reconquista's influence is here even in Tristain and I fear that their corruption is far higher in the Royal Court than I had initially suspected," the royal shook her head, "There are few that I can truly trust now without fear of betrayal."

The young noble nodded, "I understand, Princess. I shall be your faithful Court Lady from now on."

The Musketeer Captain handed the Queen a sealed letter, "Take this, Louise Francoise," Henrietta said, handing the letter to the strawberry blond, "This is a formal and official document confirming your identity as my Court Lady. With this, whether it be in the Royal Palace, or inside or outside the country, you will have supreme authority over everything, even the military, under my authority and name. After all, one cannot work well without freedom."

Louise took the letter with extreme servitude; bowing on one leg to receive it. Meanwhile, Agnes gave the Queen a dark blue pendant that had a golden rim with the insignia of the Royal Family of Tristain outlined in white.

The young Queen turned to the Overlord, "Furthermore, I would like to award you, Sir Knight Familiar, with this pendant. It will grant you a Title of Peerage of Chevalier. With this, the number of people trying to procure your services should also decrease even more. A knight under the service of the Royal Family is not easily swayed, yes?"

The Overlord gently took the pendant and examined it. It was a large pendant, one obviously designed for his size, with two hanger-hooks on the back. He attached it to his torn scarf-cape and its gold rim and white outline shone prominently amongst his dark black armor and dark ragged red cloth.

Looking at the pendant proudly, Louise realized that she had something on her own chest, '_Ah, that's right...!_' she mumbled before pulling out the Founder's Prayer Book from her breast-pocket, "Princess," she called to attention, "I almost shamefully forgot but I believe that I must return this to you."

Queen Henrietta lightly shook her head, "There is no need, Louise. Consider it as another reward for your services."

"But this is a legendary artifact..." though the pink head still had doubts about how 'legendary' it exactly was.

'_Keep it with ya, Girly. It'll be helpful for the tough times_,' the sentient blade whispered in a clank.

Just as she was about to ponder her course of action, the voice of Snarl rudely interrupted her.

"Sly, she is. Void Mage, she suspects you of."

"GAH! SNARL?'!" the strawberry blond growled with a scowl. Queen Henrietta, Musketeer Agnes, and Prince Wales blinked at the outburst. Louise quickly forgot her etiquette as she waved her arms in front of her, "This is...! Ah...! Please, excuse me!" she shouted as she ducked behind the Overlord.

The pink-haired noble was mad that she could never converse with Snarl telepathically; these situations always made her seem crazy.

"Snarl, what is it? What do you mean?'!"

"Curious action, she does. Hide your identity, she says, yet grants title to overlord. Keep you from danger, she says, yet makes you her court lady. The book a gift, she says, yet legendary it is. Sly, she is, monopolizing power discreetly, she does."

"You...! Watch your tongue against the Princess!" she quickly added, "And I don't see how all those means she suspects me of being a Void Mage!"

"Human familiar, unusual it would be. Royal records, have access she does. Same conclusion reached, no doubt. Void Mage, she believes you are."

Of course, Henrietta and the other two were listening in on the pink-haired girl's one-sided conversation, so at this point the young royal decided to cut in, "Louise, it is fine. I do not know who you are talking to, but it is true, I had my suspicions that you were a Void Mage."

How tricky of you, Snarl. Trapping Louise into this situation so that future complications wouldn't arise. Very tricky.

Louise stood up and turned around, "Princess..."

"That is why I also wish for you to keep the Founder's Prayer Book with you," Henrietta pulled off the Water Ruby from her finger and placed it into Louise's hands with a grasp, "And this as well."

In shock, the pink head spoke, "Why? Just because I am a Void Mage, it doesn't mean that I should be given either of these precious items."

"Do you, perhaps, not know, Louise? Founder Brimir gave both a ring and an artifact to each of his five wives; Tristain received the Water Ruby and the Founder's Prayer Book and the two treasures have been handed down as heirlooms ever since; as only the Royal Families could inherit the Founder's Power, thus they rightfully belong to you, my dear Louise Francoise."

"But I am not from the Royal Family!"

"Louise, from your father's side, one of your distant ancestor was the King of Tristain's illegitimate child. Thus, no matter how little, the blood of the Founder flows through you."

The strawberry blond was visibly startled by such a revelation. She had royal blood in her?

Henrietta continued, "I am sorry for trying to manipulate you like this, my dear friend Louise. But Cardinal Bishop Mazarin has taught to me that I should use everything in my disposal to guarantee Tristain's well-being, and that is because I am the Queen."

Louise quickly jolted out of her daze shock with a quick shake of her head, "That does not matter, Princess! My power, my Void, I would gladly, no, I would be honored to dedicate it to you!"

"No, you have done more than enough for me, Louise Francoise. Such powers of legend... it is better if you do not try to use it at all."

"But, Princess, if I have such power then I want to use it to help you in any way I can!"

The Queen shook her head, not lightly but adamantly, "My mother has always told me that truly great power can drive people mad. That not everyone can resist such madness. Who could be sure that you, after having attained the power of Void, a power said to be as great as the Gods, would not turn out the same? I do not want to risk it and lose you, my dear Louise."

The Overlord gave a mental nod to that. He knew that power corrupts; it was the same for the Seven Heroes, even the previous Evil Overlord before him had unwittingly been corrupted by Sins. So too did the Overlord face trials that tested his virtues as well. Thus, the demi-god agreed that his little master was not ready to handle such powers. Not yet.

But Louise was stubborn, she would not back down so easily without saying her piece.

"But _I_ was taught by _my_ mother, and I continue to personally believe so, that I should dedicate my all to the Crown and country. Sadly and unfortunately, I could never do so because my magic has always failed on me, I was called a 'Zero' and garnered sneers and contempt. However, if the Gods have given me this power, then I want to use it for you. But if you... Your Majesty, says that you do not need it, then I will refrain from doing so."

Henrietta was deeply moved and went to tightly embrace Louise once more and the strawberry blond returned the favor and hugged back.

The two old friends spent the rest of the day chatting with each other in private about the past, the present, and the future.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Heirlooms of the Royal Family_ - Founder Brimir had five wives, though there were rumors that he had only truly loved one person that was none of those woman. Whatever the truth was, he had given each woman a ring and a treasure and those items became the heirloom of the Royal Families.

Tristain received the _Water Ruby_ and the _Founder's Prayer Book_. The notebook was said to have been used by Brimir to pray to the Gods and also held all the information concerning the Void Magic of the Founder.

Albion received the _Wind Ruby_ and the _Founder's Music Box_. The instrument was said to play the music of Brimir's people and held the memories of the Founder.

Gallia received the _Earth Ruby_ and the _Founder's Incense Burner_. The jar was said to have been used by Brimir to pray for all of the lost souls and held the dearest wishes of the Founder.

Romalia received the _Fire Ruby_ and the _Founder's Round Mirror_. The mirror was said to have been used by Brimir to scry and held the entire history of the Founder's life.

Germania received the _Void Ruby_ and the _Founder's Holy Goblet_. The cup was said to have been used by Brimir to celebrate victories and held the emotions of the Founder.

* * *

**Author Notes**

This chapter has actually been finished for almost two weeks; that is including being uploaded to my Doc Manager, proof-read, and touch-ups. However, it was postponed from being posted because the heat has been killing me. I really like to have a head-start on typing out the future chapters, thus more time to fall-back against unexpected problems.

In short, I could have posted this days ago but I'm slowing down my pacing at the moment. Expect an update about once every fifth-day at this rate.

Anyways, continuing on...

I don't know if Henrietta's Father is officially named in canon, so I just chose to call him 'Charles.' There's a brief mention of someone by the name of 'Phillip the Great' in Volume 5, but the context is odd enough that I can't tell if that was Henrietta's father or not.

Also, in Volume 5, turns out that the Royal Family of Tristain's symbol is canonically a 'Lily.'

From all the supplementary material in the Narrator Notes, amongst other things, this fanfic makes it sound like the 'Musketeer Corps' has existed for a while, but canonically the group doesn't exist until after the Invasion of Tarbes and Henrietta becomes Queen.

The Founder's Holy Goblet and The Void Ruby don't exist in canon. They were made up just for this fanfic.

Ah, well, I guess this is what happens when I don't bother to do heavy research or when new information comes out much later, but hey... _details_. In other news, I'll probably have another section titled 'Canon Notes' to point stuff like this out instead of having it in the Author Notes.


	23. A Heart Throbbing Love Love Quest I

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Three - A Heart Throbbing Love Love Quest [I]

* * *

Louise was physically training with Derflinger.

Though the blade having been reforged in the Steel Smelter, cleaned up, and made a suitable size for the little girl to handle.

'_I thought I had died, ya buggers!_' it had complained, '_I saw blades, an endless field of blades! I saw a sword with even better anti-magic skills that me, it could even turn into a giant paper fan and it was still better than me! I saw a cylindrical saber that was just a beam of intense light and heat! I saw blades that looked like keys!_' and it continued to ramble on before realizing it was now an entirely new sword and then getting prissy about that.

Afterward it got quickly accustomed to its new form and even began to like it. The sentient sword had become a 'gladius,' which was rather short for a grown man, but still quite lengthy for the small strawberry blond.

The girl was practicing with the sword because it was now her new-found 'shield' and it required arm-strength to use or otherwise the blade would just get knocked out of her hand. Her demi-god familiar had tested Derf's limit and the sword had trouble absorbing spells at Triangle-Class and above. Thus the blade was only to be used for defense.

Surprisingly, the pink-haired noble was rather good at using a sword. Apparently her mother was a famous Mage Knight and had tried training her in both the magic-arts and the sword-arts but, well, due to Louise's apparent lack of magic-skills and much fragile-build her training was short-lived and soon replaced for political marriage grooming.

In fact, if Louise had failed the Springtime Familiar Summoning, then her mother would have instantly made her quit school and spend full-time training to become the perfect house-wife.

We're all lucky that that didn't happen. The world would have most likely be a worst place without our meddling strawberry blond.

Anyways, this was by no means that Louise was becoming a Mage Knight, she simply didn't have the body-build or the battle-skills for it. At minimum, she was just learning how to dodge or block attacks.

...

A Bronze Valkyrie came her way and the pink head imperfectly rolled to the side and ended up flat on the ground. The earth construct tapped its blade against the girl's back and that declared her lost.

As you should have noticed by now, dear readers, Louise's training partner was Guiche, or more properly a single Bronze Valkyrie, and they were duking it out in the Vestri Court.

Because of the war, and its much earlier vacation time, Tristain Academy of Magic was officially on break, thus not many students and staff were around. Of the named characters that I could be bothered to mentioned, Louise, Derflinger, the Overlord, Guiche, and Montmorency were still here.

Jean Colbert had gone to Tarbes to examine the Dragon's Raiment, which, by the way, Siesta was also still at Tarbes helping the reconstruction effort. Miss Longueville was at Valois playing with her family. Kirche had tagged along with Tabitha to the book lover's estate in Gallia. The Headmaster... I've honestly no clue, wherever he was he had honestly left the academy without a functional representative; so please don't be like him, folks, it's wholly irresponsible.

"Ugh...!" Louise groaned at her defeat. She would have had easier time if she could use magic, such as the Slow spell stone, but couldn't because this was physical training; a what-if scenario if she couldn't use magic for one reason or another.

"That was an excellent spar, Louise~!" the blond boy praised with his usual charming flair. Though the worst part was that he was being utterly honest about it. "You're getting much better at avoiding my lovely valkyrie's attack. I might have to start using a second against you."

"Is that so?" she grits out as she got up and patted herself clean.

"Indeed!" he cheerfully proclaimed, "Your movement has become more refined like a graceful dancer and your timing is becoming more impeccable like a dutiful grandfather clock!" the boy laid out the compliments sincerely but still thickly out of habit. "Truly, a flower that blooms even in the midst of battle~!" he said as he sniffed his rose wand.

"He's right, ya know," Derfligner chimed in, "You're getting alot better at this. You've only dropped me six times today, it's a new record!"

Louise huffed and took a seat at the patio that Montmorency was sitting on and slumped down onto the chair. She was tired out, as this was her eighth spar, '_I need a drink..._' she mumbled out of her thirsty throat.

Oh, and the Overlord was just standing around next to his little master's chair. Though I feel like I'm forgetting somethin- _Ah!_ That's right, whatever happened to her brown bodyguards?

Eh, whatever. I'll tell you when it's important to know, readers.

Guiche dabbed his face with a handkerchief, he wasn't tired by the spar but the constant drain on his Willpower from his Bronze Valkyrie had warmed up his body and so he was sweating, "Ah~! I need a refreshment to cool myself down!" he said as he cut off the link to his construct.

There on the table, where Louise and Montmorency were seated, sat a bottle of wine that Guiche had sneaked out from the school's underground cellar. Naturally, it was aged to a delectable taste and also refreshingly cool. He had brought it out to woo his girlfriend with but when Louise asked to spar with him, well, he couldn't say no.

Really, he would have gotten a 'light' punch from the Overlord for refusing.

The drilled-hair blondette was one step ahead of either of the practicing pair and had already poured three cups of wine; one for herself, one for Louise, and one for Guiche. And motioned for the bronze lover to come take a seat and have his drink.

"Ah, thank you my sweet Montmorency~!" Guiche sounded as he took a seat.

The girl was looking eager, anticipating something, with a devious glint in her eyes. The blond boy only took it as a sign of her love for him; in a way, he was a honest but hopeless narcissist and romanticist.

"Make sure to drink all of it, Guiche," his girlfriend said in a tone that wouldn't accept refusals, "At once."

"O-Of course!" and he gulped down all his wine. He started coughing afterward because he wasn't used to drink so crudely; it was barbaric to his gentlemen noble image.

Montmorency moved in close to his side, "Are you alright?" she intoned almost flatly with a tinge of impatience.

"LOVE POTION?'!"

The blond pair turned their heads toward the speaker and saw Louise babbling about something and talking to nobody in sight; snarling about a 'snarl' or whatever.

Montmorency began sweating bullets; did someone figure out her plan? How?

And what about Guiche? At the sight of Louise, his face grew red and was completely flushed with a quick beating heart. '_What was that abou- Ah...!_' he let out. He was completely entranced by her and leaped out of his seat.

"I can take it no longer!" the young boy said, "Ah, Louise~! The beautiful strawberry within my eyes~! Your petite figure! Your setting sun eyes! Your long light-rose hair! Your sweet fragrance! AH~! Words cannot do justice to describe your beauty and elegance~!"

'_GEH?'!_' both the girls voiced.

Montmorency was looking pale and was almost biting her nails, while Louise's face twitch under an undeniable truth.

Guiche drank a love potion and he was in love with Louise.

...

So let's talk abit about Love Potions.

First off, they're '_mind altering substances_.' Oh, I don't mean that they give you a buzz or high or even lower your inhibition, no, that would not make the substance completely illegal and banned in all of Halkeginia. It was a real mind altering substance, it could turn you into a completely different person; practically '_mind control_' in liquid form.

I don't know much about the history, it was probably created by a scorn lover or a lustful person, or heck, maybe someone made it by complete accident while trying to make an energy drink or something. Whatever the case, it was quickly banned because it was too potent.

That said, I won't be listing off the ingredients or explaining how to make one either, folks. That's black market stuff right there.

So, just how potent is a Love Potion? Well, its concentrated form was, at best, 15 milliliters. That was, in Halkeginia standard, a bottle small enough to carry, well, deadly substances; in alternate world standards, that was generally the size of a eye-drop bottle. Any lower than 14mL and it was pretty useless but any higher than 16mL and it was extremely poisonous instead.

Love Potions are serious business in other words.

Anyways, the effects of a 15mL Love Potion lasts at a minimum of one month. I repeat: a _minimum_ of one month. And the maximum record-holder was currently at one year; one freaking gods slaying year. The time discrepancies was of course due to the different physiology of the drinker and various other minor factors.

But, hey, that's not even the best part yet!

I haven't even begin to describe what happens to a person under the effect of a Love Potion nor how easy it is to manipulate a person while they were in that state. Consequently, I haven't talked about how simple it would be to keep a person hitched onto the potion and also how the user could further warp the drinker's mind even after the affects have worn out or even if an antidote was used.

Really, it's not pretty and I rather not talk about it.

These things are banned for a reason, you know, dear readers?

So let's move on now.

...

Louise was having a nice chat with Montmorency inside of the drill-haired girl's room. And by '_nice_' I meant '_interrogation_'; she was actually not having a nice time. Because, just outside of the room, stood the Overlord watching over a severely beaten down Guiche who was unconsciously mumbling stuff about '_saving his princess from the black knight_' or something and another.

Anyways, Montmorency's room was filled with all kinds of liquids and potions, her Runic Name was '_the Fragrance_' and she was particularly famous for her unique brand of perfumes, '_Monmon_,' that she sold in the capital. To say the least, the girl was easily the richest student in Tristain Academy of Magic without using her family's influence.

'_Ugh, mind taking me outside? Scent of perfume be heavy here_,' complained Derflinger.

You're a sword, you don't even have a nose.

The girls sat on a table facing each other after clearing out some of the beakers and flasks.

"So, Montmorency, would you kindly explain to me why you gave Guiche a love potion?" asked Louise. Her face looked like it was smiling and her tone was quite chipper but she exuded an aura of pure annoyance, "Because I would like a proper explanation on why I had to endure a ten minute love confession from that idiot. I hope it was a worthy cause, Montmorency, because, as you know, love potions are illegal."

The girl bit her lower lips in nervous tension before just blowing up in pure anger, "It's all his fault! Always fooling around with other girls!" and continued with a crazed look in her eye, frustration coursing through her words, "I'm his girlfriend, so why? Why does he keep flirting around with other women?'! Argh! He... He was suppose to only have eyes for me and now... now he has his eyes set on you...!"

The sentient sword clattered to itself, '_Ya noble gals are always so clingy. Can't give a man some freedom._'

Louise was momentarily stunned before shooting out of her own seat and slamming her hands on the table. She was feeling indignant because the pink-haired girl was always taught, by Rule of Steel, to be responsible for her own actions, that her actions held consequence; she always held herself by this higher standard, as that was what kept her going in life in all of her darkest times: her pride and her honor.

Thus, to see Montmorency not owning up to her own mistakes was annoying. But worst yet, Louise felt, that the blond girl was shoving off all blame on the pinkette. On her! Can you believe that?

So Louise growled out her retort, "Because of a love potion that _you_ used on him!"

The blond girl clenched her teeth at the words 'love potion' being shouted. While the chances of being overheard was low, she still didn't like the word being shouted out at all.

"I know! So, keep it down, Louise!" the girl snapped back and she noted just how odd '_Louise_' still rolled off her tongue.

You see, the two girls didn't exactly get along. Their barest interactions these days was because Louise and Guiche were sparring partners. Before that, it was because Louise's familiar and Guiche were sparring partners. And even further before that, the two of them flung insults at each other almost as much as Louise got into verbal arguments with Kirche; calling each other '_the Flood_' as in '_bed-wetter_' and '_the Zero_' as in '_talentless_.'

Simply put, these two young nobles girls barely tolerated the existence of one another.

The only reason Montmorency even called Louise by her name was because Guiche had insisted it due to the promise he made to our heroine after his duel with the Overlord; which he pretty much insisted to all peers to do the same as well. As for Louise, she normally called everyone by their given name, Zerbst non-withstanding, but always had a nasty nickname reserved for anyone who insulted her with 'the Zero.'

"Then do something about it," Louise quipped as she sat back down in her seat.

Montmorency did the same and slid back into her chair, "You don't need to tell me twice. I was planning to make an antidote whether you complained to me or not," she answered in a huff.

"How long? I don't want to deal with him while he's like this for more than a day," Louise briefly paused, "A day-and-a-half, maybe."

The blond girl folded her arms, "I've used up all my money to buy the ingredients for the love potion."

"All your money? Don't you mean Guiche's money?" Louise said with a frown. She already knew that Guiche had split his reward money with her.

The drill-hair blond huffed arrogantly, "Most of the money came out of _my_ pocket. Regardless, I won't be able to make the antidote anytime soon. I'm broke, so I won't have enough New Gold until, maybe, another two months."

To be exact, that was New Gold for the antidote. She still had tons of money left, but that was for her personal pleasure and business expenses. Spending all the money she had now would not only make her broke but also probably put her very in the red or completely out of business.

"Two months?'!" Louise yelped, "That's obviously too long! Rather... when does the effect of the potion run out?"

"A month, maybe a year."

Louise snapped, "Montmorency!"

"There's nothing I can do about it!" the girl flung her arms up.

The pink head growled before responding, "Fine, whatever, I'll lend you the money to buy whatever it is that you need, but I expect you to pay it all back with interest later! No, in fact, I expect you to pay more for troubling me with Guiche, especially if you don't want me to report to the authorities about the love potion, Montmorency!"

The blond's eyes twitch, "Hmph! Fine. Come back tomorrow evening."

...

The next day, at evening, the two girls were having another 'nice' chat with each other.

"You can't make the antidote?'!" Louise scowled.

"It can't be helped. It was sold out!"

"Can't you just make it by yourself then? You should know how to make it!"

"I could... I've already bought all the ingredients, except that the last one is extremely difficult to attain."

"Well? What is it?"

"The Water Spirit's Tear."

'_A water spirit? Ah, that's trouble_,' Derf clanked.

"And? The problem is...?"

Montmorency sighed, "There is only one known water spirit in Halkeginia. It resides in the Ragdorian Lake, however it seems that nobody has been able to contact it recently. In other words, it's impossible to buy the Tear right now."

"Why don't we just go and get it then?"

"Are you stupid, Louise?" the blond raised a brow, "It's a Spirit, an Elemental Being. As if mere students like us would have anything to give a Water Spirit in return for its Tear."

"Oh? That sounds like you won't even bother to try and ask the spirit for help. Maybe you would like me to report your love potion to Her Majesty? Is that what you want, Montmorency?" Louise sneered.

The drill-haired girl grew alittle pale before bursting out, "Argh! Fine, already! I understand, but I'm only willing to go if you're going."

"Of course," was all the strawberry blond said. Despite coercing Montmorency into doing this, what the girl had said was correct. They needed something to bargain with... perhaps Snarl would know?

Whatever the case, she'll have to think about it later.

For now, the pair made arrangements for their journey tomorrow to the Ragdorian Lake.

They both knew that this was going to be an annoying and troublesome trip.

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Elemental Spirits_ - They are currently considered the most powerful beings, even stronger than the Elves, in all Halkeginia and the world. They were believed to have commonly existed during the Age of Chaos but in present times have since, unexplained, disappeared in number. Today, there are only a few known or assumed instances of Elemental Spirits left.

A water spirit in the Ragdorian Lake. A fire spirit in the Fire Dragon Mountains. A earth spirit in the Rub Al Khali, the Catacomb Tombs, and the Fogged Grave Lands. And a wind spirit in the White Country of Albion.

While they are not worshiped, they are highly respected for being literal forces of nature. In the past, they were known to have created many contracts with humans, which few families can claim a proud root to, but today have little interaction with them.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Have I mentioned that the Summer weather is killing me? Because it is and it makes it really hard to get into the mood to type.

Also, once again, thank you all for the Reviews, Favorites, Follows, and everything else.

I assume Guiche de Gramont to be somewhat of a Wine Connoisseur; if only to impress the ladies with his knowledge. Unfortunately, I'm not one so I have no idea what wines are okay for students in a medieval-like society like this. Thus, I didn't name whatever wine he stole.

* * *

**Canon Notes**

'_Monmon_' is actually the nickname Saito uses to address Montmorency in Volume 4 because her name is '_Montmorency Margarita la Fere de Montmorency_;' ie, '_Montmorency Montmorency_' equal '_Monmon_.' It also just suddenly appeared; I'm pretty sure it wasn't used in the previous volumes and Montmorency didn't really have much screen time interacting with Saito before then either. So it's a mystery really how that came to be.

'_New Gold_' is used in Volume 1 but eventually that is changed to '_Ecu_' in later volumes; I will retain using New Gold as the currency for this fanfiction though. Unfortunately I have no idea how the currency works; 3000ng is described as enough to afford a 'holiday home plus a garden,' while 200ng was for a basic sword; meaning a basic sword is 1/15 a house and expensive swords go for as much as a house in a _mage_ driven society. Yes, it's all incredibly odd. Considering the huge discrepancies, I assume that there's a smaller currency like 'Old Gold' or something that Commoners use; sorta like the difference between paying in coins and paying in bills. Ah... whatever.


	24. A Heart Throbbing Love Love Quest II

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Four - A Heart Throbbing Love Love Quest [II]

* * *

The Ragdorian Lake is the largest body of water that could be found in all of Halkeginia and was located in between the borders of Tristain and Gallia. Though, that was to be expected as the only known Water Spirit lived there.

In fact, the Ragdorian Lake was one-third the size of the already small borders of the two countries that touched it. And wasn't just famous for its size and mystical inhabitant, but also because the water was the most cleanest and purest water that a person could ever find and that by extension also made the lake very beautiful.

Speaking of the Water Spirit, here's a fun fact: the Water Spirit is also commonly known as the 'Spirit of Oath,' thus making both the Ragdorian Lake and the Water Spirit a very popular place and entity to swear oaths at and to.

...

Louise, Montmorency, and Guiche arrived at the Ragdorian Lake by horse. The Overlord, as always, ran there alongside them.

"Ah~! So this must be the famous Ragdorian Lake! It is as beautiful as they have described it to be! Yet, it cannot compare to your radiance, my sweet Louise~!" shouted Guiche.

Both girls made a scowl at that.

"Watch me, Louise!" the boy said while riding ahead and trying to show off. However, his horse was scared by the lake water for some reason and abruptly stopped, the sudden loss of motion made the young noble fly off his mount and splash right into the water.

"I can't touch the ground! The water is too deep! _Too deep_!" he dramatically flailed about.

The sentient sword shouted, "Don't suck in the water! You'll drown, boyo!"

Why, thank you for the obvious tip, Derflinger.

Montmorency muttered, '_What a worthless boyfriend, maybe I should reconsider our relationship..._'

Louise ignored the comment. She didn't care; the other girl could do whatever she wants but only after Guiche has been cured.

When the two girls arrived at the shore, Guiche was out walking out of the lake. He was completely soaked from head to toe and shivering with a weak looking face.

"Ah, perhaps I was too excited..." he shivered, "I've shown you something disgraceful, my sweet Louise... I'll be sure to do better next time!"

The pink head sighed. Every word of out his mouth was one word closer to making her order her familiar to knock him out cold for the rest of this trip.

"This is strange..." Montmorency stated after examining the lake shore, "The water level has gone up. The shore should be further up ahead..."

Louise looked ahead and caught sight of proof, "You're right. Isn't that a rooftop there?" she pointed to the completely submerged house.

"Oh, it is. It seems the entire village has been flooded," the blond girl said calmly.

'_I don't know how ya girlys can be so calm about this_,' the sentient sword clattered mostly to itself.

The blond girl walked up to the lake and dipped a finger into the water. She was concentrating on something and eventually stood back up with a worried face. "It seems that the Water Spirit is angry about something," she declared.

'_That's bad_,' Derf commented.

Louise placed a hand on her forehead and sighed. Why can't things ever be simple? Why?

Out of nowhere, a voiced called out to them, "Ah, you there, are you perhaps nobles?"

The group turned around to see a simple old farmer walking out of the nearby trees.

"Is there something you need, Commoner?" Montmorency asked first.

"Ah... Well, milady, I wanted to know whether you came here to negotiate with the Water Spirit..." with no interruption, he continued, "Is it so, milady? Please, help us!"

Our heroes looked at each other before the blond girl spoke again, "No, that is not the case... We're only here to have a look at the lake," she lied because she couldn't tell anybody that they were after the Tear.

"Oh, I see..." and the old man began to mutter something before ending it with a deep sigh.

"What happened to the Ragdorian Lake? Do you know, Commoner?" Louise asked.

The farmer scratched the back of his head as he explained, "I think the water started to rise about two years ago. It raised slowly, first flooding the port then the temple and fields... Look," he pointed to the submerged village, "See? Now the entire village has been flooded, but the local lords that are responsible for this territory indulge themselves in entertainment and pay no attention to our pleas."

It should be mentioned that there are two local lords because the lake is at the borders; A Gallian Lord and a Tristain Lord. The one that the farmer is actually talking about is the Tristain Lord, as the Gallian Lord is very sick. But obviously the farmer doesn't know any better and is generalizing.

The old farmer continued complaining about something before excusing himself and leaving. After he left and couldn't be seen or heard, Montmorency pulled out a tiny bright yellow frog with dozens of black spots from her waist-bag and held it in the palm of her hand.

"Ugh! A frog!" Louise almost yelped at the sight of it, inching a few steps away from it, "Is that thing poisonous?'!"

"Hmph! She is not poisonous. This is my precious familiar, Robin!" the blond turned back to her frog with a raised a finger, "Robin, I want to contact an old acquaintance of ours," the girl takes a needle and pricks a finger, letting a single drop of blood to collect on the amphibian's backside before healing the wound, "With this she should know who I am, so Robin, please seek out the Water Spirit and tell her that I wish to speak with her because of our contract. Understand?" she said, with that mission the frog nodded slightly before hopping off and into the water.

The blond girl turned back to face the rest of the group, "Robin has gone to contact the Water Spirit. She'll be back shortly."

"So how do we get the Tear?" Louise asked. Once again, she didn't have a plan, "Do we tell it a sad story or something?"

"Hah? You really don't know?" the drill-haired girl raised an eyebrow before lowering it back down, "Well, I suppose you don't, since mostly only Water Element Mages would know about it. The Water Spirit's Tear is only a name, it doesn't really cry and shed tears."

Having ringed out most of the water from his clothes, Guiche spoke, "Then what is the Tear?"

Montmorency was about to explain when the lake water began to shine. From a single spot a body of water began to rise and then floated in the air, it was an ever changing blob that glistened and flashed the colors of the rainbow; beautiful but alien.

'_That's Divine alright. Don't make it angry, Girlies_,' Derflinger quietly suggested, 'And _you keep your trap shut, blondie boy_.'

The Overlord stood and watch, feeling the tremendous magic before him. Not as powerful as the weakened Forgotten God but just as otherworldly and intense.

Soon right after, the blond girl's familiar returned to her and she whispered it a praise before placing the frog back into her pouch. Next, she spreads her arms facing the Water Spirit and speaks.

"O' Water Spirit, the Spirit of Oath! I am Montmorency Margarita la Fere de Montmorency, mage of Water and descendant of the lineage of the old oath! I have called you with my blood so that you may remember our pact! If thou remembers, then answer in the way and words that I may understand!"

The blob of water's form began to shift and eventually took the shape of Montmorency, only larger and completely nude but lacking the necessities and being made of clear see-through water, with a faint smile on its lips.

Suddenly its face began to act freakishly bi-polar. It went from a smile into anger, then sadness, then shock, and so forth as the Water Spirit floated closer and closer towards the shore.

Eventually it settled for looking bored.

"I remember our pact, frail human," it spoke in a clear and womanly voice that echoed like ringing bells, which did not even display a hint of the speaker's watery nature, "I know of the blood that flows in your vein and the oath of your ancestors. You have called for my audience and I am here. Speak."

"O' Water Spirit, I have a request to ask of thee. Though this may be crude, I wish to know whether you may spare I a piece of your body?"

Oh, so the 'Tear' is actually a piece of its body? I'm sure there's a funny or romantic story about why it's called a 'Tear;' too bad I don't know it though.

It gently smiled and said, "I refuse, frail human."

What a jerk.

I mean, who didn't see this coming? A divine being screwing off the mortals? That happens all the time.

Everybody expected this to happen, but still, nobody was quite sure how to proceed from here on.

Louise decided to step up. Obviously because Montmorency wasn't going to push her luck and the Overlord was no smooth-talker either, so it was up to her to get the job done. Founder forbids that she has to deal with a love-crazed Guiche for a month or more; she just might lock him up somewhere.

"O' Great Water Spirit!" the strawberry blond began, earning a glare from the blond girl but a swoon from the blond boy, "I ask of thee, is there no way to convince you? Is there nothing we can do to attain a favor so worthy enough of your Tear?"

The body of water changed faces a few times, as though it was considering something, before answering, "Very well, frail human. I have a task for you: repel those that attack me, your fellow humans."

Our heroes blankly looked at each other, "Repel?"

"I have spent much of my energy to raise the water as far as I have and now your fellow humans have sought such an opportunity to attack me every night. Remove them from my presence and I will bestow upon you a piece of my existence."

Montmorency visibly hated the idea, "I hate fighting."

Louise gave a sharp glare, "In that case, I hope you enjoy dungeon food, Montmorency," she intoned the unspoken but obvious threat.

"Ugh! Fine, I get it already! I'll fight!"

The pink head nodded and faced the spirit again, "We accept your task! We shall call upon you once again after we have completed your trial!"

The Water Spirit pointed toward the other side of the lake which was Gallian territory, "Go there, for that is the location from which they attack," and then collapsed its form and sunk back into the water.

With that, the group headed to the other side.

...

Taking position in a small clearing surrounded by trees that had a clear sight to the shores, our heroes were prepping up a small camp. Well, Guiche was anyways, he was really easy to 'persuade' at the moment.

When it was finished, everybody was sitting around the campfire.

But, from all his hard work, Guiche drank an entire bottle of wine by himself and was singing. Derflinger joined in shortly after and the two did a duet. Of a love song. To Louise.

_Yeah_, it annoyed her enough that she finally ordered the Overlord to shut the boy up and he was now lying unconscious on a tree and mumbling something about whatever fantasy he was dreaming of.

Meanwhile, with alot of hours to waste before the sun was even down, Louise had initiated chit-chat with Montmorency every so often to little success. Both girls were two peas-in-a-pod in the sense that they had little to no close friends, acted high and mighty, and were quite prone to... overzealous retributions.

That is, in other words, though the girls knew how to act at social gatherings from their lessons in etiquette and procedures, when in more informal settings they were, well, not very friendly or sociable.

Eventually the 'talk' drifted toward the mysterious assailants.

Oh, and at this point it was the four hour mark and Guiche woke up and was content to simply listen in, lest he suffer from being knocked out again anyways.

"Who would try to attack the Water Spirit and why?" Louise questioned her thought aloud.

Equally bored out of her mind, the drill-haired girl answered, "Fools, that's for sure. As for '_why_,' other than trying to get a Tear forcefully, I can't imagine who could be stupid enough to anger the Water Spirit on purpose."

The pink head crossed her arms, "It can't be Commoners, they're too afraid to challenge the Water Spirit and don't have the power to fight either. So it must be mages, hmm, disgraced nobles..."

"It'd be suicidal for Line Class Mages to fight the Water Spirit in her own domain. There must be alot of them, probably Water and Wind Mages, to increase their odds of surviving," there was dislike in her voice, "Bunch of money-hungry thugs showing such disrespect to the Water Spirit."

"Ah, a group of them would be troublesome," Louise said. She was planning to have the Overlord handle the problem but if there was a group of enemies then one of them could probably escape and cause more problems later. She took a peek at her Devil Bringer and thought that Slow might just come in handy today, "If that's the case then we can leave them to my familiar. We just have to make sure that none of them run away."

"Fine," the blond girl huffed.

"You can count on me, my sweet Louise!" Guiche proclaimed excitedly.

And thus the plan was set.

...

It was night and the two blue and green moons were high up in the sky; the only source of light in this darkened landscaped.

Two fully cloaked figures, one short and one tall, moved silently in the shadows until they came into the dimly moonlit shores. The shorter person shuffled their staff and began chanting a spell of some sort.

"There they are," Louise stated quietly to the rest of the group, "and there's only two," she said in relief. This would be easier than she thought.

"Only two? Two Line Class Mages are trying to fight the Water Spirit?" Montmorency said in shock.

"Maybe they're actually Triangle or Square Class Mages?" the love-struck blond boy answered.

"But they're just disgraced mages! They can't be any higher than Line! ... right?"

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. We'll just have to ask them that after we capture them," the pink head said before signaling for her familiar to attract the enemies' attention.

The Overlord walked out of the trees with an audible rustling; his glowing eyes and overcore revealing his immense size. The taller figure had whipped out a wand but almost immediately back-downed upon the demi-god's approach.

"Sauthoth? What are you doing here?" asked Kirche as she pulled down her hood.

Ah, that would make Tabitha the other one... in fact, upon hearing the word '_Sauthoth_,' she stopped trying to cast her spell and pulled down her hood as well. Short, blue hair, red-rimmed glasses, amazing poker-face, still wearing the Tristain school uniform... Yep, it was Tabitha alright.

The Overlord raised his hand as an 'all-clear' sign with a lit fireball and the rest of the party cautiously exited from their hiding spot. The curious glint of red and blue made them realize who the attackers were.

Of course, what was on everybody's mind was: '_What are you doing here?_'

...

Kirche and Tabitha were roasting meat on the newly lit bonfire and Guiche, off at the corner with Derflinger, was getting himself drunk again and roleplaying his fantasies in a stupor. Louise and Montmorency were sitting opposite of the other two girls pair and the Overlord was just standing guard as always.

"Why are you two attacking the Water Spirit?" the strawberry blond began her questioning as each person took a piece of meat to eat.

"Why are all of you protecting it?" countered Kirche.

Montmorency gave a glare and Louise nodded before speaking again, "In return for stopping the Water Spirit's attacker, we get her Tear," and crossed her arms, "You don't need to know anymore than that, Zerbst."

"Oh, is that so? I guess that means that Tabitha and I can't reveal our reasons either," Kirche purred, she always loved leaving the Valliere wanting for more.

"Zerbst...!" Louise growled at being outplayed.

As the two rival descendants glared at one another, the voice of Guiche's singing flowed toward their ears. He was, once again, singing a love song to Louise.

'_Ah, my dear beautiful Louise~! The sun, the moon, the world all around cannot compare to your beauty~! I yearn for you, as I have always done~! I admit, of that, I am guilty~! My heart is heavy with love, it weighs several tons~! Ah, my sweet amazing Louise~!_'

That was one such line they heard at the moment.

It took several seconds for Kirche to process the information that Guiche, even though he was drunk out of his mind, was dedicating a love song to Louise while in the presence of Montmorency. He had two death wishes apparently.

The red head said the first thing that came to mind, "Guiche, what is wrong with you?" and was promptly ignored by the drunkard continuing his song. She turned her head to question the other girls, "What is wrong with Guiche? Did you two do something to him?"

Louise smirked, "Oh? I believe I can''t you anything until you tell us your reason for attacking the Water Spirit, Zerbst."

Kirche gave a knowing smile. It was now a stalemate, a battle of wills, so who would give in first?

The two would be in this deadlock for an eternity an-

"Territory," the book lover intervened with a nod. She didn't see any point in withholding information; best to get it out now and avoid trouble later. Especially because she didn't want to deal with Kirche's and Louise's constant rivalry of trying to gain the upper-hand against each other in even the simplest of things.

Kirche admitted her defeat with a sigh and a shrug, "The areas on this side of the Ragdorian Lake is own by Tabitha's family. However, I'm sure you've all noticed that a good portion of the land has already been flooded over. Because of that, Tabitha's family is suffering from the damages, so we've been entrusted to stop the Water Spirit from rising the water levels any further," she quickly tacked on the next sentence, "Okay, it's your turn now, Louise."

"Like I said, we're here to stop the attackers and earn the Water Spirit's Tear from doing so. We need the Tear so that Montmorency can make an antidote for Guiche."

"An antidote?" the Germanian faced the drunk blond boy, "What is exactly wrong with him?"

"He drank a love potion."

"Hmm, a love potion?" the red-haired girl slowly met Montmorency's eyes and gave a bemused and knowing smirk, "Ah, so it's like that, is it? Montmorency the Fragrance, the potion-maker, wanted Guiche all to herself?" she placed a hand over her lips, "Really, women that have no confidence in their own natural charms are the worst."

"Go die, Kirche!" the blond girl raised her voice. She so dearly wanted to blame someone and somehow, but just couldn't; all faults severely pointed towards herself.

"But what do we do now?" the red head girl said while ignoring the comment, "Obviously we both have our own objectives to fulfill."

Louise agreed. She didn't see anyway that any of them could get out of this without one side failing.

That is, until Snarl telepathically spoke to her again.

The pink head opened her mouth with a quick '_Snarl!_' before closing it and listening to what advice the Minion Master had to say.

"Repel attackers, you have. Rewarded with Tear, you shall be. Rising waters, problem they are. Another quest, ask you should."

Louise reinterpreted it for everybody, "Since we've taken care of the attackers, we'll get our Tear. And since we've fulfilled one of the Water Spirit's request, she'll probably listen to another."

"We're what?" Montmorency quirked a brow. She didn't quite understand.

"So, what you're saying, Louise, is that the Water Spirit will lower the waters as long as we complete another of her trial? Is that right?"

"Yes. That way, we all get what we want," the strawberry blond noble nodded.

Kirche asked Tabitha for confirmation, "As long as the flood stops and the land is restored to its original condition, that should be fine, right? In that case, we won't need to fight the Water Spirit afterall."

The blue head nodded.

"Great, then it's decided," Kirche said with a clap, taking charge of the situation, "Let's negotiate with the Water Spirit tomorrow morning!"

...

The next day, Montmorency called for the Water Spirit again and it made another grand entrance.

"O' Great Water Spirit!" the blond girl appeased, "We have done as thee have asked of us and your attackers have been stopped! As per our agreement, may we receive a piece of thou body?" she said bowing and holding up an empty vial.

"Very well," the spirit said as a handful of water split from its body and floated into the container.

It began to liquidize into the lake but stopped when Louise spoke up.

"Please wait, O' Mighty Water Spirit! There is something we want to ask of thee!"

The blob reformed back into a giant naked Montmorency, "Speak, frail human."

"Though we have stopped the attackers now, more will come as they wish to prevent the flooding of any more land. O' Water Spirit, can you answer this for us? For what reason have you to raise the waters? If thou stops, then perhaps we can help in your stead?"

There was a short silence as the Spirit thought about the offer.

"You have honored our previous contract, frail humans. I shall entrust you with this new task," it paused and then frowned, "Your fellow humans have stolen one of my treasures."

"Treasure?"

"It is my most important treasure, frail human. It was taken from I nearly 700 suns and moons ago."

'_That's about two years ago..._' Montmorency mumbled as she recalled the Old Farmer's complaint.

"What kind of treasure is it?"

"It is a ring, that which you frail humans have long called '_the Ring of Andvari_.'"

'_Ah, I think I've heard of that somewhere..._' further mumbled the blond girl. Resident part-time treasure hunter Kirche whispered, '_Hmm~ That's the ring that is suppose to bring back people from the dead, right?_' And then blond girl confirmed it, '_Yeah, that's it. A legendary artifact of the highest Water Magic said to give false life to the deceased..._' The two girls continued quietly talking about the ring's ability to each other.

"Does thou have any clues to the thieves' identity?" Louise asked.

"No," it answered in monotone.

"I see, finding it will be difficult but I promise thee, O' Water Spirit, Spirit of Oath, that I, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, shall return to you your ring one day. So please, will thou recede the lake and return the land to what it once was?"

It paused.

"Very well, frail human, we have another contract. I shall stop the rising of my water and return the earth back to its surfaces, and you will bring back my ring. Know that time is not of the essence, simply return it before you expire, frail human; otherwise, I care not how long you take."

"I accept," Louise said with a backing bow.

Once again, the Water Spirit attempted to leave. And, once again, someone called out to it.

"Wait," Tabitha had actually raised her voice to say, "Question."

Luckily the Water Spirit didn't seem mad at all these sudden interruptions, "Speak, frail human," it said. It understood Tabitha's intent-filled words more than what words she was actually saying.

"Spirit of Oath? Why?"

Another pause.

"Frail human, I do not understand the reasons you humans do the things that you do or the thoughts that you think, however I have long such pondered and speculated such reasoning and logic in my boredom."

The book lover nodded; she knew that she wasn't going to get a straight answer. Meanwhile, the Overlord mentally nodded to himself; he also did some heavy contemplations when he was stuck in the Abyss.

"My existence in of itself is the meaning why the humans of old had bestowed such a title upon I, for I am amorphous, yet unchanging; since time immemorial I have always been nothing more and nothing less than what I readily am, living here in this lake surrounded by the water."

"Eternal carrier of hope," Tabitha stated before kneeling on one leg and praying earnestly. What she prayed for, nobody knew; Kirche had an inkling but only the blue-haired girl would ever truly know.

Montmorency was fuming on the inside. She struck inspiration and wanted Guiche to make an oath too, but unfortunately he was still under the effects of the love potion, so there was no way he was going to make an oath to her. The drill-haired girl grit and grinded her teeth in frustration.

Meanwhile, Louise did the same as the quiet book lover and knelt down to pray. She swore to return the ring, she swore to become a great mage, she swore to become a splendid master, and she swore to always look forward to the unknown future.

...

Several hours later, with night approaching, our first group of heroes: Louise, the Overlord, Guiche, and Montmorency; were back at Tristain Academy of Magic, inside the drill-haired girl's room, as she was mixing up the antidote.

"Done!" the girl proclaimed as she wiped her forehead.

The result? A pot filled with a purple liquid that stunk really really bad; I'm not even there and I can smell it!

Louise looked at it puzzlingly before turning to the afflicted individual, "Guiche, drink this. All of it."

The boy waved his rose wand, "Will I receive a reward, oh sweet Louise?"

'_Guiche..._' the two girls hissed with evil eyes, then the Overlord's fist casually punched a hole through the door and gave a thumb's down, '_Ya haven't been paying attention to anything have ya, kiddo?_' was Derf's reply.

The young noble was sweating bullets at all the negative energy directed at him.

He chuckled nervously, "Why, I would love to drink all of this, my dear Louise~!" he said with a shuttered.

He picked up the pot and guzzled it down like a heavyweight champ, leaving not a single drop behind. He hiccuped, burped, and ended with a tap to the chest and a cough.

The boy seemed nauseated for a moment before his expression turned grim, "PLEASE, DON'T KILL ME!" he shouted waving his hands in front of him, "I-IT WAS THE LOVE POTION! IT ISN'T MY FAULT AT ALL! I WASN'T THINKING STRAIGHT! SPARE ME, LOUISE!"

"Guiche, not so loud!" Montmorency shouted with a slap to his cheek to calm him.

Louise folded her arms, "Calm down, Guiche. I'm not going to kill you when I've already gone through all the trouble of curing you."

"Ah... I-Is that so?" he asked nervously as he played around and fanned himself with his frilly open-shirt.

"Of course," the Valliere nodded, "Just make sure it never happens again."

"Right... never again..." the boy agreed with a passing glance at his dangerous girlfriend, "You... you have my word on it, definitely!" Suffice to say, Guiche wasn't going to let Montmorency serve him any food or drinks for a long while.

And then, suddenly, we've got another incident on our hands, dear readers!

"Trouble at the Palace, Little Master," Snarl's voice came to Louise.

The strawberry blond grimaced and ran right out of the room, "What? What is it, Snarl?" she said as she headed straight to the Black Spire; she needed a dragon to get to the capital quickly. The Overlord followed behind; silently listening in at the same time.

"Intruders, Undead, they seem."

"The Undead, in the Palace? How can that be? No... Is the Princess safe?'!"

"Treachery at play, Little Master. Guards sent away, they have been."

Louise quickened her pace, "Snarl, you're not answering my question! Is the Princess safe?'!"

"In battle, she is. Exile Prince assistance, she has. Undying and vicious, the intruders are. Safe for now, but tire, they will."

She started frantically running, "Sauthoth!" she called out in panic, "Her Highness is in danger! You can get there in forty... no, twenty minutes, can't you? Then go! Please, save the Princess! I'll catch up in a bit!"

Once they left the girl's dormitory, and there was enough space for the Overlord to maneuver around his little master, he ran off in a blaze and left behind his young master to her own devices.

"Snarl, will Sauthoth make it in time?"

"Little communication I have, for those who lack an overcore. But warned the Queen and Prince, I did, or dead they would have been. Contacted for Musketeers, I have also done."

"Thank you, Snarl," Louise genuinely said.

"Thanks, I need not. Detected strange magic in Tristain, I did. See intruders head to Palace, I have. Inform you, I have done. Powerful allies they are, Queen and soon King, the two are. Shame to lose, it would be."

Derflinger clattered, '_Just take praise when ya get it, Snarly_!'

Louise was now barely outside of the main building, "... So Snarl, tell me honestly, will the Princess and Prince Wales survive?"

And the Minion Master answered solemnly, "Time will tell, Little Master. Only time shall tell."

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Magic in Halkeginia_ - Magic takes many form in Halkeginia. The first and foremost Magic is known as the _Pentagon Powers_, magic used by humans. The second Magic is known as _Ancient Magic_ or _Nature Magic_, this is a unknown system of magic used by the Elves. The third Magic is _Beast Magic_, which is used innately by the magical beasts of Halkeginia. The forth and final Magic is known as _Spirit Magic_, this is used by the Spirits.

While the abilities of the Gods are commonly known as '_Godly Magic_' they aren't labeled under 'Magic.' Instead the official classification and name is '_Divine Strength_.'

* * *

**Author Notes**

This chapter took way too long to finish, And the weather is still baking me inside my home.

I delayed uploading this from the fifth-day update and instead waited an additional two days because I'm really behind. I'm only one chapter ahead of schedule instead of two or three; that is terrible.

Also, there was something plot important I forgot to do, even though I've planning it for awhile, I somehow forgot about it... I'll get back to that later.

* * *

**Canon Notes**

I described in Chapter Two that the two moons were green and blue. Canonically, they're red and blue, but I'm not changing that. I quite like the more calming color of green than red for a moon. Also, do they even have names? I'm not really sure about that either.

Canonically, the Water Spirit singles out '_Cromwell_,' though I don't get how that's possible; the light novel mentioned that '_the thieves_ _did not disturb the Water Spirit from its slumber_,' so how the Spirit knew his name is odd; maybe it communicated with the water? Then there's the fact that it singles out one person by name, which is even odder; you wouldn't think it would bother remembering human names or just naming out one.


	25. People Should Stay Dead When They Die

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Five - People Should Stay Dead When They Die

* * *

The sun was falling off the horizon as the Queen and the Exiled Prince enjoyed a spot of tea and chatted inside the ruler's room, which was located near the heart, the throne room, of the palace.

The two people were promised to one another; once this war was over the two royals would wed and their love would finally bloom in the light of society. But they did not sleep with one another nor consummated their feelings, as such secrets should not be readily revealed until the appointed time.

Yet the two would share their days together, basking in the presence of the other, to always remember the warmth that was almost lost one fateful day.

The young woman, Queen Henrietta de Tristain, had short chestnut purple hair, fair skin, and crystal blue eyes and wore the crown at the age of nineteen. Her partner was the young man, Exiled Crown Prince Wales Tudor de Albion, and he had short blond hair, a handsome face, and sky-blue eyes and was twenty-four years of age.

The two giggled and laughed as they enjoyed their moments of peace together, living in their own little world of happiness.

And then the magic was gone and time flowed once more.

A distant voice, old, crackling, high-pitched, and hissing, echoed within the woman's head.

'_Explain, I cannot_,' it spoke strangely to her, '_Ally, I am_,' distorted and rippled in sound, '_Danger, you are in_,' calm and calculating in tone, '_Assassins come, they do_,' and most assuredly truthful in urgency before simply vanishing.

The slight grim displeasure on his lover's face did not escape from the man's sight, "Is there something wrong, Henrietta?" he calmly asked as he took a sip of his tea.

"Yes, we seem to have a dire situation on our hands," the monarch assumed the ghostly voice to be of the same source that spoke to her childhood friend Louise Francoise, "Trouble is coming our way."

The blond man placed his cup onto the table, "Reconquista?"

"I believe so. I cannot imagine that a group of assassins could have penetrated through the Palace's defenses so easily without detailed information or help," Henrietta said as she buckled her dark blue cloak; its enchanted protection would no doubt prove essential.

Wales readied his sword-wand, "So it's true, there are spies high above within Tristain's Royal Court. That is a problem, how will you go about handling this, Henrietta?"

"May we discuss about this after we've dealt with the intruders, Wales?" she said as she readied her scepter.

"Ah, of course, forgive me," the exiled prince calmly rose out of his chair, "Well then, shall we fight or will we run?"

The Queen answered positively, "We survive, my dear Wales Tudor," for she believed that help would definitely come to their rescue.

...

Shadows flickered and disappeared.

Phantom trespassers of the most royal halls.

Patrolling guards, bound by duty, set to discover the truth of the mysterious forms.

Yet the only answer was death and silence.

Eleven shadows graced the hallways.

They moved only to a single purpose.

To bring death all around them.

They moved only to one goal.

To kill the royals: the Queen of Tristain and the Exiled Prince of Albion.

Fleeting shadows prowled the corridors in search of their prey.

...

The two royals slipped out of the room. They had hope to escape to a more crowded area before their hit-men would discover that their information was slightly wrong.

What they found was a grisly scene.

Blood and flesh was splattered and smeared everywhere within the corridor they happened into. It was not the work of a human, such brutality could have no been done by a human; magic or not. Whoever, or whatever, passed through here was no murderer, no torturer, none of those at all; nothing less than a savage demon could have done this.

The two restrained themselves from falling to their knees in weakness or regurgitating the contents of their stomach.

They mentally prayed for the poor souls that had so unfortunately lost their lives and continued forward; luckily avoiding whatever monsters that had passed through here recently.

The pair moved quickly but quietly, using only the light of the torches, lanterns, and moonlight to illuminate their paths. Life did not exist beyond the two, as they ran through empty hallways upon empty hallways; besides from the grisly scene moments before, they had not met a single guard.

The traitorous spies within the Royal Court must have be very high up in command if they could manipulate the formations of the guards and clear a way for the assassins.

The engaged royals did not expect help to arrive for them anytime soon.

...

Kill. Kill. Kill.

Shadows moved and humans died.

Then there was only movement, for none of the living was left to impede them.

Yet, their instincts flared, flitting between bloodlust and rage.

The preys had fled from their nest.

The eleven shadows had taken six different routes but still did not catch a glimpse of their targets on the way.

The Queen and Prince were outside of the expected hunting area.

A signal of the mind is sent and seven new shadows rustle.

Seven shadows tightened a new net to block all the exits.

Thus the predators were on the prowl.

...

Five minutes passed eerily by; no doubt, with the little resistance that they had faced, the assassins must have already reached the Queen's room and found it to be empty of their presence.

Henrietta hoped that they would give up then and there, but she was not so idealistic or optimistic to faithfully believe so. Her enemies had gone through great lengths to devoid the Palace of its usual defensive measures and was preventing further help from arriving, while the hired-killers themselves were slaughterers of the highest degree; they would not retreat after such a minor set-back, they would instead begin the hunt in earnest.

Fear tinged her emotions and heavies her breathing. Fear made her observant but paranoid. Fear drove her little-by-little in despair and forced her to hope more and more.

The man besides her did not feel as intense as she did. He was happy and he enjoyed the peace with his lover, but the young blond was always prepared to lay-down his life to protect his most precious person; he was a man who had already come to terms with his fear of death and the possibility of dying. Thus, what troubled him was not fear but the inability to soothe the fear of his own partner.

They turned another corner to stare into the red eyes of a thing.

The moment lasted an eternity, then ended in an instance.

The red-eyed shadow leaped without warning, growling in depravity, claws forward to sink into flesh and tear meat apart.

Wales calmly quick-spelled and struck the assailant with a well-placed Air Hammer.

It flew in the air and struck the ground but rose back up with disregard to its pains and injuries. It let out a crazed deafening roar, a signal to gather the rest, causing the Queen to grimace, and then rushed again only to be hit by another accurate Air Hammer.

"Oh dear, he's a tough one," the Exiled Prince stated, "Those were two Triangle-Class Air Hammers that I had hit him with. He should have trouble breathing or be lying on the floor from all the broken bones."

This was a dangerous situation.

They could waste no more time against this opponent. The lovers had not a clue nor an idea about how many assassins there were or where they would come from; the worst case scenario was that they all gathered here within the next ten to fifteen minutes and surround them.

Knocking out the relentless enemy was no longer an option to them. They chose to use lethal force.

Another Air Hammer kept the shadow at bay as the purple-haired woman swiftly conjured up an Ice Spear that pierced through the enigma and pinned it onto the ground.

It thrashed about.

One minute. Two Minutes. Three Minutes.

The red-eyed shadow did not die and continued to furiously struggle free.

The Prince casts another Air Hammer to push the thing further down the spear and motioned for his lover to continue forward. The two quickly ran passed as the assailant wailed as it clawed away at its sides.

Henrietta looked back and regretted doing so. Its upper-half had been forcibly torn apart from its lower-half, yet the shadow still did not die, its chest and above crawled towards its stomach and below, then the two halves twisted and bubble as they grotesquely reconnected with one another.

She turned the corner and the last she saw was the thing most definitely coming back to 'life.'

"It's not human," the woman uttered to herself.

...

Meanwhile, outside the Palace, the whole numbers of the Imperial Guards were gathering under the swift command of Musketeer Agnes.

The woman captain had received a warning from a disembodied voice and quickly mobilized. She had no reason to trust the unfamiliar voice but she no reason not to investigate its claim either.

And she was not pleased with the results.

Returning from her nighttime patrol, Agnes and her fellow musketeers had walked through the silent hallways of the Palace but met nor saw or heard no more than the crackles of fire and the sound of their own footsteps. The usual checkpoints were also empty of guards or patrolling squads.

The eerie calm only furthered the captain's suspicion that something was wrong. However, she did not have to wait long for confirmation.

Blood, flesh, bones, and death painted the stone corridor.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Even the ceilings were stained.

Such brutality was something the veteran Musketeer had never seen before in her life. She had seen friends and soldiers die to one another in battle, she has seen humans flayed alive by magic, she has seen people eaten by monsters and beasts...

Yet none of those could compared to the pure repugnant scene in front of her.

'Demon' was the only word she could use to attribute the handiwork.

Quickly, Captain Agnes had snapped out of shock and commanded her musketeers to split into pairs and search for the Queen and Prince; one pair was sent to rally the nearby guards into immediate alert and action.

"Her Majesty's safety is our top priority! If you see any suspicious individuals then you are to maintain your distance and shoot first! Do no engage them in close combat!" she barked out the order as she pulled out her pistol, "Go!"

She clicked her tongue.

'_Be safe, Henrietta...!_'

...

An alarm is raised and its ringing sound reverberates throughout the Palace.

Shouts of men and heavy footsteps roar under the deafening sound.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Humans pile into the hallways in search.

Yet there were no thoughts from the shadows. No dissatisfaction. No panic. No fear.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Life ended before them and they continued without pause.

Shadows moved and screams resounded.

...

"Ah, finally, the guards have noticed the intruders," said the Prince as the two turned another corner.

But the Queen did not hear him all that well, the loud sound of the alarm pounded her ears. She could hear faint sounds of something echo from somewhere else and that only frazzled her nerves at being unable to identify them. She had preferred the deathly silence over this racketing noise, for she could atleast differentiate sound then.

As it was now, she could barely hear the sounds of her own thoughts, let alone the man besides her; all she heard was bits and pieces.

The Prince peeked out at the corner, "Ah, here too..." and motioned for them to turn back.

A shadow was waiting at the next hallway. It was not searching, no, it was only waiting; not a hunter but a wall.

"Tristiannian construction is truly marvelous," Wales commented earnestly, "All these extra hallways has allowed us to remain relatively undetected from our pursuers. Though, it seems quite troublesome, Henrietta, since the extra mobility seems to have trapped us as well."

"Indeed... it was designed to funnel the enemies soldiers into a labyrinth-like system and confuse them. If the leading officer decided to split their troops then we would pick them apart, but if they bunched together then we would simply flank them..."

"I suppose that means there are no secret passageways we can take then?"

The woman sighed, "No, the records stated that such things were not built in the heart of the Palace due to security reasons that were not mentioned nor something that I can even begin to fathom."

The blond chuckled, "Well, I do believe Albion is the same in that respect."

The Prince peeked through another corner and frowned slightly at the spectacle before him. A single shadow was dispatching a group of guards and turning them into utter pulp.

If he was a weaker man of resolve then he would have already fainted at the sight.

"I think we should charge through," he stated.

"What?" the Queen said as she winced at the nearby screams of fear.

"We'll eventually run into our pursuers if we keep avoiding the look-outs."

Henrietta stayed quiet for abit before speaking, "I see, it is as you say, the longer we linger the more likely we'll be found."

By now it was too late for the nearby guards, they were all dead.

The exiled Prince tightened his grip on his sword-wand and slams the assailant with an Air Hammer, the Queen quickly follows up with a Ice Spear and stakes the shadow through the chest and pinning it onto the floor.

It raged about as it saw its two targets run pass it.

...

The hunt would soon come to an end.

The trail was becoming fresher.

The distance was getting shorter.

The predators were getting closer.

And many more shadows awoke from their slumber.

...

Agnes quickly dodged the thrusted claw with a reel of head; the same attack had messily ended the life of a fellow musketeer at the start of the encounter.

Her eyes had adjusted to the dimly lit halls and she saw what the sole thing was. It looked human but far paler in skin tone, it smelled of a stench even worst than that of the fresh dead, its eyes were glowing bestial red, and it was garbed in tattered clothes but ones whose design was still clearly and royally Albian in nature.

Whatever it was, it was a nightmare and a mockery.

When the battle had begun, it was Agnes and two other musketeers against the shadow. However, the thing was far faster and more resilient than what they had assumed it to be. And now it was just Agnes and a wounded Imperial Guard, trying to survive against the evil thing.

In the initial moments of the fight, the demon had shrugged off the pelting of pistol-fire and dashed with an impaling hand which ended in the death of one musketeer. Agnes then received a severe cut across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose for failing to react fast enough from her shock. Unable to retreat, the woman pair engaged the thing in close combat with their swords.

They cut and cut and cut, slicing off limbs after limbs, but the demon simply regrew them back into grotesque stumpy forms. As the fight continued, the two musketeers struggled to dodge or parry the shadow's immense strength and were rewarded with accumulating cuts and growing fatigue for their efforts.

Captain Agnes blocked the attack but was sent slamming into the wall, she quickly ducks and leaps out of the way as the thing's hand pierces into the wall.

"Die, you monster! You don't belong in this world!" she roared as she decapitated it. The head rolled onto the floor before melting into smudge and the headless body stood still momentarily. The chevalier backs off immediately to catch her breath and the neck begins to bubble up as another mockery of flesh forms as its head.

The woman clicks her tongue at her undying opponent.

'_Where are the reinforcements?_' her thoughts race, '_We need fire mages to finish this monstrosity off!_'

She avoids another swipe as it nicks her on the shoulder, leaving claw marks on her pauldron.

While focused on the blond woman before it, the shadow did not notice the other musketeer behind it and was decapitated once more, the blond chevalier trailed behind with a bisecting slash.

"Captain, please retreat!" the soldier coughed out with blood, "I will hold it off!"

Agnes grits her teeth at this situation. Such a bitter taste.

_THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._

A sound comes from behind her, loud enough to be heard even through the ringing alarm. She quickly turns around and sees two towering glowing eyes.

...

"It's the Queen! To her aid, men!" shouted a guard.

It was only ten minutes passed before Henrietta and Wales finally met with a group of Palace Guards; six men in total. The soldiers quickly ran forward and formed a defensive perimeter around their sovereign.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?'!"

"I'm alright," she said as calmly as she could, "Let us keep moving. The intruders are not far behind."

"As you command, Your Majesty!" the guard saluted as he lead them away.

They moved quickly, fleet of foot, and stopped.

There before them stood three shadows, six eyes glowing a bloody red and emitting a low bestial growl.

Four guards stepped forward, sword-wands in hand, and chanted Fireballs or Air Hammers. But they were too slow, within moments the shadows were in front of them, within seconds the shadows were attacking, and without blood and limbs and life the soldiers in front quickly perished.

With nothing but the assailants in his view, Wales swiftly casts three Air Hammers to knock away each phantom. The Queen's legs buckle beneath as her as she helplessly collapses onto the floor; the death of the guards was a severe shock. The blond prince had expected this though and continued his assault with a Wind Cutter to shred his opponents.

The shadows were viscerally torn apart and then mashed into the other end of the corridor by a heavy Air Hammer.

Wales gently picks up his lover and cradles her, "We must go," he said before quickly dashing away.

His words snapped out the two surviving guards from their stupor; one rushed ahead of the pair to secure the route but the other cracked and ran away screaming for his life in the opposite direction.

The exiled prince breathed heavily with every step. His body was burning and he was very close to suffering Willpower Depletion; throughout this entire night, he was casting deadly Triangle-Class Wind Magic, he had to, but he himself was only a Triangle Class Mage, thus the spells took quite a toll on him.

If he tried casting another spell, he would probably cross a dangerous line.

'_To be one of royal blood but only at the strength of a Triangle, my, how troublesome_,' the man complained to himself wryly in thought. He saw and felt the weak and shivering Henrietta in his hands, who clutched tightly onto the fabrics of his clothes, and he outwardly frowned, '_Troublesome, indeed_.'

'_GGGGGUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH HHH!_'

The prince immediately stopped and took several steps back.

Something was approaching. Some things were approaching.

A head peeked out from around the corner, it stood still in the dim lights with a blank expressions, long enough for Wales to recognize it, and then it blended back into the darkness, red-eyes glowing in a predatory light.

Old, sickly, and ragged, with long white hair and a long white beard and a tall and thin physique. It wore what was once the finest Royal Albian clothes that were now dirtied, tattered, and ruined.

"Father..." the prince muttered to himself as he puts his lover down, "What have they done to you?"

More shadows followed behind the phantom king and a cruel truth struck the young man like lightning.

"These things... they too, are they...?" he could not bring himself to say it aloud but now he suspected the assailants to have been the fallen Albian Royalists that perished at Newcastle.

Henrietta weeps, '_W-Wales...!_' she had heard his statement and understood the implications. These demons were his once his friends and allies, his comrades in arms.

The exiled prince tightens his grip on his sword-hand, "Reconquista..." he growled in contempt.

The Battle of Newcastle, that which was suppose to be the final glorious stand of the Royalists was now utterly defiled; those men and woman who should be at rest, buried under the White Country's soil, given peace for the heroics they did that day, were now committing atrocities.

Words from a certain green-haired woman flashes through his mind, '_There is a specific reason the rebels, or more likely Reconquista, wants you dead. I don't know what it is but it obviously involves more than just making sure you're dead; they probably have a plan to use your corpse somehow_,' the taunting knowledge makes him aim his weapon at the shell of his father.

His contempt boils, '_They would have controlled my corpse... to do something like this?'! To harm my precious Henrietta in such a manner?'!_' the once calm and collected man was now seething with cold anger and hatred.

He had originally thought of the Rebels and Reconquista as only simple traitors; those after power. But now he saw them as despicable and tainted villains.

The rattle of more footsteps alerted Wales. He and the Queen were now surrounded on both sides.

"I'm sorry, my dear Henrietta... that your lover is such a powerless man."

The chestnut-haired woman shook her head and wiped her tears, "No, you are a fine man, Wales. The best man I could find myself besides with," she said as she uneasily stood up and readied her scepter.

The shadows shambled forward, twitching in anticipation to finally fulfill the purpose for which they were revived for, to satiate the bloodlust which drove them.

The two lovers stood back-to-back as they faced the horde of demons.

"I love you, Henrietta..."

"As do I, I love you too, Wales..."

And prepared themselves for their end.

_THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._

Do you hear it, dear readers? The sound of promised victory?

A giant lengthy blade guts through the shadows in front of the Queen and sets them ablaze; turning them into nothing but ash within moments. The raging inferno reveals the tall towering form of the Black Knight, the Overlord, as his glowing eyes stares down upon the undead before him.

"S-Sir Knight Familiar!" Henrietta jolted at his sudden rescue.

The phantom king turns craze and rushes in to kill the Prince but the Overlord is just as swift with the enhancement from his runes and turns into a blur. Taking a large stride above the two royals, the demi-god steps over them and blocks the path of the undead.

The undead king screeches and strikes forward with a sharpened hand but the claw bends, cracks, and cripples upon impact with the heavy armor and also erupts into flames. Quickly the burning fire engulfs the false king and those flames jump onto the nearby shadows as well.

This was the defensive properties of the Abyssal Armor, otherwise known as the Armour of Fire; it would set any enemy that struck the Overlord on, well, fire, as the name says it all. He hardly ever used it though, because most opponents that hit him head-on were the inorganic sorts, such as weapons, and weren't quite as immediately flammable, as opposed to using his fire-based spells.

Oh, there was also the fact that flammable things, like say Minions, accidentally brushing aside him and catching on fire was a bad thing too. So the defensive flames was set to activate manually on command rather than be passive in protection.

But the shadows paid no heed to their status. They continued to furiously hound the Overlord with thrusts and slashes of their claws as they burned away; continuing to smash with their broken and grotesque limbs when their clawed-hands had became nothing but stumps.

The Overlord raised his sword and swung it down, splitting the undead in half. They tried to reconnect themselves but their regeneration could not keep up with the devouring flames.

The wail of the dead dying once more fills the corridors and hauntingly echos in a shrill symphony amongst the crackling fire before sputtering down into a silent calm as the ashes crumble away.

The halls were decorated in dancing black ashes and spilling red blood.

But in the end, only the living remained.

* * *

**Author Notes**

So apparently '_?!_' works again. Wonderful, I'll start using it properly in the future chapters again.

Also, I actually love the 'dreary' or 'solemn' narrative. I'll probably use it more for serious tones in other fanfics.

That said, I had a difficult time ending this chapter. There was going to be alittle more, a scene with the sun-rising, that would have definitely made the ending much better... except that I couldn't figure out a way to properly end it like that. _Agh...  
_


	26. Dawn After The Dead

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Six - Dawn After The Dead

* * *

Statistical reports on the event known as '_Blood Shadow Night_,' or more accurately dubbed by the guards as '_The Night Of The Living Dead_,' were less than pleasant.

About thirty 'unidentified assassins' had made their way into the Royal Palace of Tristain and killed nearly 250 soldiers. Or atleast, that was what was told to the general public.

I mean, alarms blaring loudly during the night and coming from the Palace for nearly forty minutes were rather hard to miss for the Tristainnian city-folks of the capital. Thus, to keep information and rumor from spiraling too out of control, a small statement was released to placate the masses.

Of course, that didn't mean theories and rumors wouldn't spawn from this. No, not at all. It just meant that when they do, they would be in a certain direction. For example, right now, the popular conspiracy was that the intruders were an elite group from The Holy Republic of Albion.

Which was good for the Queen because she didn't need her people to start panicking at the real truth of the matter. Or to let her secret enemies know that she know what they expected her to know.

To say the least, that event was pretty big news through-out all of Halkeginia.

...

Now let us shift the scene to the Throne Room of the Palace.

Long and wide, the room is more like an enlarged passageway. Its entrance is two tightly sealed, magically-reinforced, and decoratively carved doors and at the back sat the two thrones that belong to the King and Queen with two banners to the side that proudly displayed the Royal Family of Tristain's color and symbol of the Two-Sword Crowned Shield.

A dark blue with white and gold trim carpet, the same colors as the banners, lead from one end to the other in this room; starting just after the doors and ended right before the two thrones of power. To the side of this room, there were large windows, known as 'radius top,' 'springline,' or even 'cathedral style,' that would normally let in the bright sunlight but at the moment the curtains were up to prevent spying.

Inside the Throne Room was Queen Henrietta and her most trusted of trusted friends and allies attending a very important meeting today.

It goes without saying, that Queen Henrietta herself was here, along with Prince Wales, Musketeer Captain Agnes, and Cardinal Bishop Mazarin. The other people in this room was our heroine Louise, Derflinger, and the Overlord; and maybe counting Snarl and Miss Longueville who were listening in from the Black Spire.

In the center of the throne room was a circular table, the 'War Table' as it was known, and it was a magical instrument; though, only in the sense that it turned 'on' and 'off' with a command.

Everybody was crowded over the table and having their secret meeting. Well, as secret as covering the windows, casting a Tranquility spell, letting no one disturb them by locking the doors, and only having a select few of people attend, could be, anyways.

Secret, surely. Discreet? Not so much.

Oh, and today was two days after the Blood Shadow Night.

"Thank you for coming as quickly as you did, Louise Francoise," the Queen said.

The Valliere shook her head, "Of course, I came as soon as I read your letter's summon for me, Princess." The only reason she didn't come sooner was both because the guards stepped up security and refused to let anybody in for awhile and partly because Louise thought the young royal might needed some time alone to clear her thoughts.

The Cardinal Bishop quirked a unnoticeable brow as the use of 'Princess' but didn't saying anything about that; he was old and wise enough not to make a fuss about every little odd things, especially concerning Henrietta who was abit tom-boyish around those she was close with, though she did act somewhat mostly prim and proper around him.

The purple-haired woman gave a smile, "It seems that you always rushing to my aid, my dear Louise. Once again, I am in your debt, your familiar has saved my live twice now."

Louise returned the smile, "Of course, that's to be expected of any Tristainnian. I am also your Court Lady, Princess."

Here Henrietta's smile lowered itself just a tiny bit and she let a sigh escape her lips afterward.

"If only everybody was as loyal and trustworthy as you, Louise Francoise... That's why I called you here today: to discuss the matter of the Blood Shadow Night."

The strawberry blond winced in the inside. She wasn't there personally but she had heard what had happened, play-by-play, when she interrogated Snarl for the details. It was gruesome even with the Elder Minion's broken and non-descriptive way of story-telling.

All she did was give a nod in acknowledgment.

"Agnes," the Queen gestured to the Musketeer, "If you may, please give your report now."

The blond chevalier bowed lightly before stepping forward and speaking in a serious and professional tone, "I have investigated the series of events that lead up to the Blood Shadow Night. Please be aware that most of the information I have gathered in this short-time is patch and guess-work on my part."

"That is alright," Henrietta assured her, "Please continue."

Agnes nodded, "First was the information regarding the positioning of the palace guards. As expected, many of the guards were given leave during that night, which lead to the security around the Palace's center to be void. However, the orders passed through multiple guards, some who were killed in the attack and some that have simply vanished. I am sorry to say but I did not find the culprit.

However, no captain of any division of the Imperial Guards were aware of these commands. The evidence has lead me to believe that only someone from the Royal Court would have the necessary authority to change the guard shifts so completely."

The woman musketeer paused to let her words soak in, and then she was given a nod by the Queen to continue.

"Second is the intruders. Testimonies have left, without a doubt, that the assassins were the once-living members of the Albion Royal Court, including the deceased King himself, James de Albion."

She gave a glance to the exiled prince and he returned with a nod.

"We've no body to confirm this but the information points to the use of Dark Water Magic or Dark Earth Magic, _Necromancy_, having being used to turn them into the Undead. Thus, I am left to conclude in my search, is that Albion has somehow acquired the services of a damned Necromancer.

Furthermore, I have discovered their point of entry into the Palace; there is an enchanted hidden entrance to the side of the palace that only several Square-Class Earth Mage could have opened. But, once again, I am sorry to say but I have no idea when this hidden entrance was created, but rest assure that it is being sealed up.

I have also been unable to determine from where the assassin arrived from. I speculate that they had arrived in another port city, somewhere in Gallia most likely, and then crossed our borders undetected."

Another pause before continuing.

"And that is the end of my report," she said with a light bow and backed away to her spot behind and to the side of the Queen.

"Thank you, Agnes," the royal woman said.

There was a light silence in the room as everybody digested the new-found information.

Henrietta broke the quiet thinking, "And that is our situation. There are traitors within the midst of the Royal Court, thus the only people I can trust and rely on now are those in this very room," she panned and looked everybody in the eyes and they gave a small nod in return.

And then she called out and assigned roles to the party.

"Agnes, please continue your investigation." "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Cardinal Bishop Mazarin, please keep the Royal Court in line." "Of course."

"Louise Francoise, you are free to do whatever it is you want but please remain somewhere close by; I wish to be able to contact you as soon as I can. I will have need of your services soon, my Court Lady." "As you wish, Princess."

Wales, the Overlord, and Derflinger were the only ones that didn't receive explicit orders.

"Thank you," the Queen said and ended the meeting.

...

"What are your thoughts on this, Miss Longueville?" Louise asked.

The young Valliere was sitting in her room at the Black Spire, with tea served, and conversing with the secretary. The woman was pretty much the closest thing the girl had to a confidant, a person she could confide in, that would talk back with her; the talking sword and disgusting minion master were no good.

"Well, the Queen has her hands full, that's for certain," the green-haired woman said with a shrug after taking a sip.

"Is that all?" the little girl almost huffed.

"Sorry, Miss Valliere, but I really don't have much of an opinion about this," she answered calmly and relaxed, "I have no idea who in the Royal Courts could have done this and I don't have a clue about who the Necromancer in Reconquista could be or how they got a hold of such long forgotten arts."

Louise mumbled to herself.

"Ah, I just thought of something," the sentient sword clattered from its corner in the room.

The two females turned to look at the blade with a '_Well, what is it?_' face.

"Those guys, they were Undead right? Well, Girly, do ya remember hearing anything that can bring the dead back to life?"

Louise crossed her arms as she thought long and hard, "Hmm..."

"I forgot the name but its probably the ring that Water Spirit is looking for. What's it called again? The one ring to rule them all?"

"Oh!" the pinkette piped up wide-eyed, "The Ring of Andvari!"

The blade clattered and chuckled, "Yeah, that's it! Ring ol' Andvari! That's the one!"

"The Ring of Andvari, The Ring of the Water Spirit, The Ring of False Life..." the ex-thief began recalling the names and stories she heard about this particular artifact, "So Reconquista has it."

"Oh..." Louise's shoulder's drooped, "That's bad," she blinked as another fact popped up into her mind, "Huh? Wasn't that ring stolen two years ago?"

The woman clicked her tongue, "It's probably just one of many items that they've acquired over the years. To think they almost had the Staff of Destruction too."

"Fouquet was part of Reconquista too?!"

The ex-thief, aka Fouquet herself, blinked before coughing and hastily taking a gulp of tea, "Ah, I mean, I wouldn't put it past Reconquista to hire a thief like that to take legendary artifacts like the Staff of Destruction. Yeah, that's right, Fouquet was probably working for Reconquista," she nodded several times in quick succession.

Louise hummed at the odd behavior but thought nothing of it.

"A-Anyways," the woman coughed once more, "What of it? So we know Reconquista took the ring. What can we do about it?"

"I'm no good at this kind of thing, ya know," Derf clanked, "Ya know? Why don't you gals go and investigate it or something? Maybe you'll find something important."

The pink-head girl thought it was a good idea but the secretary snorted.

"And what kind of clue to do you expect us to find?"

The blade was silent before answering, "Don't know."

The ex-thief huffed before taking a sip of tea, while Louise frowned.

_Creak. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Snarl walked into the room, a fanged grin was plastered on his face.

"Excellent, that idea is. Business we have, with the Spirit, we do."

"We do?" the Valliere responded.

The Minion Master cackled, "We do."

And so our heroes will make a return-trip to the Ragdorian Lake.

Later, that is; today was no good because everybody was already busy with something else.

See you next time, dear readers!

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Dark Magic_ - Dark Magic is theorized to have been spawned by Mages that contracted themselves with Demons during the Age of Chaos. Because of that, it is believed to be tainted and cursed magic. However, Dark Magic was assumed to have vanished long ago due to Founder Brimir and his followers banishing the demons of old from the mortal planes.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Filler chapter; ho hum~


	27. The Ragdorian Lake Again

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Seven - The Ragdorian Lake Again

* * *

And here we are folks, back at the Ragdorian Lake, and what a trip it was.

Miss Longueville's family insisted on coming, wanting to see the famous body of water for themselves, and she couldn't say no them.

So a make-shift carriage was made from the junk around Valois and they traveled pretty slowly as the wooden wheel-less 'ride' was carried by a group of Browns under the command of the Overlord.

The passengers of this first-class minion travel method were Louise, Longueville, Tiffania, Thomas, Gertrude, James, Nicholas, Elizabeth, Johnson, Molly, William, Susan, and Ferdinand. The Overlord was walking ahead and leading the way.

Though, I suppose other than the first three girls, Louise, Longueville, Tiffania, you, my dear readers, probably didn't actually need to know or memorize the names of the orphans.

Well, anyways, continuing on!

It was a very noisy and crowded ride with everybody on board the portable carriage. Though, it was surprisingly not as bumpy as expected; the Minions were doing a good job keeping the whole thing smooth and stable whilst singing out a drumming beat of some kind. And the only real trouble was keeping the all the rowdy kids from standing up or shuffling around too much.

Louise and Tiffania sat on the front end, making them face away from the armored familiar, Miss Longueville sat on the other end with the supplies for a picnic next to her, and the children were seated in between these adult chaperons.

The strawberry blond was doing her hardest to look like a proud noble with crossed arms and trying to keep herself from appearing flustered. Being the unsociable person she was, it was rather difficult for her to interact with the younger kids, though it was also the case because only moments earlier she was indignantly squirming at being called a 'little kid' because of her looks.

They were twelve years old at best and she was seventeen! How dare they referred to this specimen of a young adult as but a mere child!

Though, I should remind you that Louise does in fact look twelve years old; thirteen, maybe. The only other person who looked even younger than her was Tabitha, as the book lover could easily pass for a ten, eleven, or a twelve year old with her even more petite size than our strawberry heroine.

There was one thing that did bother the haughty Louise even more than being called a 'little kid' and that was the fact that the orphans were Commoners! What point was there to for this high-society daughter of a Duke and Duchess to associate herself with the common ramble of overly-energetic peasants?!

None!

None besides the fact that they were family to Miss Longueville, anyways.

It was a curious thought to Louise to wonder what could have lead to this strange turn of events. The academy secretary spoke little about herself and had a much darker personality than she normally led on, sorta like a two-faced villain. As far as our heroine knew, Longueville was a Earth-Class Mage, and surely a Noble if she was the school's Head Secretary, with a severe disdain for Reconquista. So it was pretty shocking when the pink-haired girl learned that the older woman had a very charitable side.

Heck, she even smiles brightly and sincerely at the orphaned children alongside her sister!

And speaking of that sister, Miss Longueville was somehow related to Tiffania, which the young Valliere could hardly believe. Well, half-sisters which the secretary clarified about but never elaborated on. That only made the strawberry blond even more curious about the life-story of the green-haired woman and it gnawed at her in the inside like an unscratched itch.

Tiffania of Westwood, her full name was. And, well, there's no polite way of describing her most eye-catching trait: her gigantic breasts. They were large and round with a decent amount of bounce and softness to them; they beat out Kirche's firmer breasts by a good few centimeters!

Honestly, how did she not have back troubles?

And let's forget that she was only one year older than Louise at the age of eighteen.

Of course, once anybody of any gender took their eyes off her bust-size, they would find that Tiffania was quite beautiful. She had long blond hair that seemed to glistened whenever the light of the sun shone on it. Her skin was quite fair, perhaps rivaling even the Queen, and her soft eyes were a glorious emerald color. Her face and expressions mysteriously straddled the line between looking like a older child and a young mother and her voice also walked that line.

Her style of dress consisted of white elbow-length gloves, a simple green one-piece dress, white thigh-high stockings, and white sandals; ribbons and frills neatly adorned her outfit.

Oh, and her straw sun hat. She never went anywhere without it and or even seemed to ever take it off.

Tiffania was a soft-spoken woman for the most part but was easily flustered it seemed. Her manners, gestures, and postures hinted towards a noble upbringing without all the haughtiness and condescension, though she didn't seem to possess any magical capabilities whatsoever.

All in all, she was a beautiful but mysterious woman and her familial relationship with Miss Longueville must have had quite the story to it.

"Are we there yet?" the kids excitedly asked in a sing-song voice.

"We'll be there soon," Tiffania answered.

Little did they know, it was going to be a very long while before they would arrive at the mighty lake.

...

The beautiful Ragdorian Lake was back to normal-size and the Tristain town next to it, Noyer, was once again inhabited by very thankful townsfolk. The old farmer from awhile back had instantly recognized our strawberry blond heroine due to her unique color of hair and knew that the Water Spirit had somehow calmed down after her visit some days ago. He put two and two together and his obvious outcome was that Louise did something to bring about this fortunate outcome.

And, being tired as they were from the long trip, our party gladly accepted the townspeople's generosity and hospitality. A free bed on board at a nice comfy inn, with three meals a day, and a roof over there heads for the duration of their three-day picnic trip. Though Louise, being the upper-class person that she was, couldn't help but feel that the entire service was inadequate.

Well, tough for her, the rest of the gang was more than grateful for it.

Of course, the fair people of Noyer were particularly suspicious of the brown crazy goblins that accompanied them, but the sight of the big black knight kept them from speaking out any dissenting opinions.

So after a hearty lunch at a nice outdoor restaurant, our party decided to just go about and do their own things; they could visit the Water Spirit tomorrow, she and the lake weren't going anywhere after all.

Tiffania, Longueville, the children and the minions went about exploring Noyer and asking questions to learn the rich history and life stories of the good ol' folks living here. After that they went to play around with the local kids.

The Overlord just stood outside next to the box-carriage and took in the sight of the hardworking people. Most were, of course, farmers growing grapes for wine and wheat for food. Though there were a few other farmers for other fruits and vegetables and even gardeners, possibly because Noyer existed on fertile grounds, so they used the land to grow more than just the usual staple export.

The town was originally quite beautiful with all its exotic plant-life, but being drowned had washed away quite abit of that beauty and now the townsfolk had to start over.

Still, it was a nice change of pace from what constituted as towns back in his own world.

And that left little Louise to her own devices. Said devices being staying in herself room and huffing at the meager accommodations that did not befit her most noble status and also thinking about the reason why she was meeting with the Water Spirit: to retrieve the Blue Minions.

Long story short, Snarl couldn't pinpoint their exact locations in Tristain, and that was assuming they were even still in Tristain, was because the Water Spirit's overwhelming magical presence hid them fairly easily. The only reason the Minion Master found them was because the Blue Minions came out from their watery reverie below the lake and up to the surface with bobbing heads when the scrying homed into the lake once again. Why the Blue Minions even chose to come up to the surface was probably because they had felt the lingering presence of the Overlord.

In other words, very coincidental and very convenient.

Why, if I didn't know any better, I would say some higher cosmic force pulled out such an explanation of their infinite lower rear!

Anyways, Louise mulled over the information in her head. She had fighting Browns, the fire-throwing Reds, and now she was off to pick up the Blues.

So what were the Blues? They were, well, blue in color and looked more amphibious with webbed ears, feet, and claws than the other Minions. They had a more rubbery-looking and scaly skin and retained the same glowing yellow eyes. They also had a more bulbous and round-looking head and a mid-length tail that resembled that of a turtle.

Oh, and their voice sounded like someone trying to talk with their face underwater. And they can't speak words, their magical minds are so intelligent that their mind slips into another plane if they don't focus and it also loops right back into stupid when they're not in that magical reverie; the best they can sound are things like '_agh_,' '_egh_,' '_ogh_,' '_mrgh_,' and so for.

Personality-wise, they tend to be on the cowardly side and panic quite easily.

Unlike the physical bashing-loving Browns or the fire-loving Reds, the Blues' talents lied with the mystical and the magical; though they weren't real spell-casters of sorts, just healers of the Minion Arts that really worked only for Minions. Meaning that most of their combative ability, which they had none of considering that they had a lower pain threshold than even the Reds and also a much softer carapace, were invested in support; that support being reviving any recently fallen Minions that fell in battle.

Of course, the typical Minion was extremely expendable and meant to die in waves so that skill was actually more or less rendered useless in the heat of battle.

The Blues were hardly used by the Overlord back in his own world. As tactical as he was, sometime certain problems could easily be solved by throwing enough readily-replaced Minions at it. So there was rarely an occasion were the watery goblins' revival abilities were ever used.

Though there were two other things that made the Blues dandy to have around.

You see, the other Minion types had the amazing talent of drowning in water, so the Blues' ability to swim and survive underwater was extremely helpful. The second was the fact that the Blues were magically-immune to but all of the strongest abilities, in Halkeginia's equivalent that would be upper Triangle Class to Square-Class Magic, and were quite useful in drawing attention from the more spell-happy foes.

Of course that meant little for our strawberry blond heroine. With a maximum of fifteen Minions at her beck and call, she'd rather have a full-fifteen fighting force of Browns plus Reds than mix it up with some Blues. Likewise, the swimming ability was, for the most part, not very useful since she doubted there would be many situations were she needed to use the Blues in a mostly land-based continent. And finally, she had Derflinger if she wanted anti-magical protection.

In other words, the Blues were even less useful for Louise than they were for demi-god familiar back in his days.

Still, completing the Black Spire meant getting them home, so she might as well get this over with.

Louise heaves a sigh and looks out the window.

Why couldn't tomorrow come any sooner?

...

Tomorrow had come and the whole party was having a picnic near the beautiful shores of the Ragdorian Lake. It was a good day, so why waste it being all business-like?

The kids were having alot of playing around in the refreshing water, splashing water at the Browns and scaring the bajeebus out of them. Longueville watching over them from afar while Tiffania was setting up the coming sandwich meal.

Louise sat under the shade of a tree, enduring the torturous wait.

And the Overlord stood at the edge of the lake taking in the splendor of nature. It really was beautiful and he wished he could have shown Rose this, she would have probably liked it.

...

After munching down on a delicious sandwich with a nice brew of tea, Louise quickly told everybody to stop playing around because she didn't want to call upon the Water Spirit only to show it such blatant disrespect.

So she stood at the edge of the shores...

And blinked.

How in Founder's name was she going to call the Water Spirit?

Elementary, my dear Louise!

The Overlord, being the magnificent puzzle-solver he was, took center stage.

And then he chucked a helpless Brown all the way to middle of the lake, were it promptly flailed about for three seconds before drowning.

"What are you doing, Sauthoth?" the pink head said boredly, as she noticed the yellow skull and crossbones off in the distance. By now she's already learned not to be over-shocked by the antics of her familiar too much.

The demi-god did nothing of notice besides staring at the same spot out in the lake; waiting for something. The strawberry blond sighed, crossed her arms, and did the same.

Several minutes later, she saw the skull and crossbones shift. Closer, actually, it was moving towards them.

At the same time, a blob of watery light floated up and followed the moving death-signal. That was the Water Spirit, though it didn't seem like it was bothering with a human form this time.

As the death symbol approached, a blue goblin walked out of the water, carrying the corpse of the drowned Brown over its shoulder and then proceeds to drop it onto the ground with a thud. It muttered something that sounded like '_Glub-blah!_' as it placed it hands over the body and then raised its hand into the skies. The resulting action shocks the Brown back to life and it looked no worst for wear.

Louise was utterly fascinated by that. A living being seemingly coming back to life without consequence! Though, this apparently only worked for Minions due to their strange biology; Snarl was quite adamant in saying that 'reviving' wasn't entirely accurate as it was more 're-energizing,' though he didn't really explain what Minions exactly were...

At this point the Water Spirit arrives at the shore and begins shifting form.

The shape it took was of a woman dressed in a flowy robe with a veil over her head. However, there was a clear difference in this before than the time it took the shape of Montmorency. The shape was much more defined, almost as if the water itself had froze in a light chill creating a layer of depth to it, and the robes seemed to billow in the air as a wave of current emitted from unknown core surges through out its form.

Strangely, instead of floating, the Water Spirit chose to 'stand' on the surface of the water this time. Her size was also larger than anybody here, barring the Overlord, who was actually the same size as her and they were on an equal eye-level too.

'_It's not Montmorency's form?_' Louise pondered why and who that was.

The Westwood family sat and stood at the side-line watching the brilliant and mystical Water Spirit. It was rare for anybody who didn't have a contract with it to ever see it, let alone meet it, in their life. In fact, Louise was quite lucky to have seen it for a third time at this point and a future fourth when she finally returns that Ring of Andvari someday.

"It's the Water Spirit! Look it's the Water Spirit!" "Oh, so pretty~!" "Woah, she's big!"

And other such things were the exciting words that came out of the children's mouth. Meanwhile, Tiffania was in awe and Longueville seemed to be keeping a schooled expression on her face.

The strawberry blond was about to speak but the spirit ignored her in favor of her familiar.

"You have come, Abyssal Lord."

Louise blinked. '_Abyssal Lord_'? Not '_Overlord_'? And there was something else that bothered her but she wasn't quite she what it was yet.

"I have cared for your little minions and in return they have kept me company for many ages. The lost of their presence from this lake shall be missed."

Yeah, there really was something odd about the spirit. The mystery was on the tip of the pink-head's tongue...

"And, so I have a request for you, Abyssal Lord."

So close... alittle more...

"Create a home for I to reside in near your domain and I shall grant you my blessings in return."

AHA! So that's it!

She wasn't speaking in monotone or boredom, her voice was actually intoned with respect and emotions this time!

'_Oh_,' Louise realized. She wasn't entirely sure what to feel at the fact that an age-old spirit was speaking with her familiar as equals. Though she wasn't entirely surprised either because the Invasion of Tarbes showed just how powerful her armored familiar was. So it was definitely not shock; maybe a bit of pride with a dash of curiosity.

At this moment a group of Blue Minions emerge from the lake carrying the Blue Minion Hive; the thing was blue and looked like a bunch of oddly jutting coral. The blue goblins were genuinely excited at meeting their master once more, though alittle baffled that they were standing in the presence of two of them, but were quite jovial as seeing the cheering Browns as well.

The Water Spirit nods, "We have reach an accord," it says before splitting a portion of itself that floats towards and is absorbed by the Blue Minion Hive; the main body then returns to a liquid blob state and retreats back into the lake.

The Blue Minions start marching back home, already knowing the way back without assistance.

And everybody else just pretty much thought, '_What in the Founder's Name just happened?_'

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Mage Foci_ - There are two main magical foci used by Halkeginia Mages and that is the Wand and the Staff. Though there is debate of giving Staves, a foci in between the size of a wand and staff that is comparable to the size of a mace, their own category.

While weaker than their longer counterpart in terms of channeling, the Wand is used much more often and makes up about 85% of the preferences in Halkeginia for being easy to use and light to carry; Staffs make 13% and Staves make 2%.

* * *

**Author Notes**

I didn't bother checking the origin of the names I used for the orphans... So if they don't sound medieval-like and French/German, well... sorry. Likewise, they might have Canon Names, but I didn't check that either... sorry, again.

Noyer is French for 'Drown,' I think.

Anyways, just any light-filler chapter. We'll be back to Canon next chapter...! Which is technically more filler because the Charming Fairies Inn arc is just really long. Um, sorry.

* * *

**Canon Notes**

By Overlord II there are two ways to revive a Minion. First is the 'conventional' method from the first game by using a Blue Minion right on the spot. The second is a new feature were a Blue Minion named Mortis can revive long perished Minions with a Lifeforce fee. However, since the former is reviving with a zapping sound at no cost and the latter is reviving from the life-stream/river of the dead with a price, I would like to believe that the former is 'Shock Therapy' and the latter is actual 'Revive.'


	28. The Charming Fairies Inn I

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Eight - The Charming Fairies Inn [I]

* * *

"I give you my blessings, Master of the Tower."

The Water Spirit informed the strawberry blond of her new contract. The same one that she had granted to Montmorency's family ages ago.

"I... I am honored to accept it...?" said Louise, still unsure by the proceedings. Atleast she wasn't being called 'frail human' anymore.

It turns to face the demi-god that stood next to our heroine, "And I give you my blessings as well, Abyssal Lord."

The Overlord nods.

Now, the Black Spire was shaping up to be an impressive domain. The spire was mostly fixed both in the inside and the outside, but was still aesthetically plain. The town of Valois was also about eighty-percent repaired but still relatively a ghost-town since only Miss Longueville and her family actually lived there. And now there was a sizable lake tucked in the corner of the domain near the town.

The lake was named 'Geneva Lake' and was also home to the new Water Spirit; an entity that was both separate yet the same one from the Ragdorian Lake.

I wouldn't try thinking too hard about how that works or you'll confuse yourself, dear readers. Or maybe think of it as a hive-mind, I suppose that works too.

Anyways, in the center of the Geneva Lake was a Blue Minion Gate apparently because the Geneva Water Spirit enjoys their company. Heck, the only reason it was here was because it wanted their company.

Why? I wouldn't know. I'm the narrator, I don't exactly understand the whims of elemental alien beings far older than I am.

So there's lake inhabited by a Water Spirit near the Black Spire now.

I'm not really sure what else I can say about this.

...

It was night time now.

And rather than go back to the still relatively empty Tristain Academy of Magic, our little strawberry blond choose to stay at Valois for a change. She didn't want to stay at the Black Spire all by her lonesome so she was spending the night with Longueville's family, the Westwoods.

The Overlord, who was not really meant for these normal size houses, just stood watch outside.

It was rather late so most of the young children were already asleep; only a couple troublesome few needing to be tucked in by Tiffania.

Meanwhile, Longueville was in her own room, sitting on a chair and reading a book under the lantern light and enjoying this wondrous romance novel: '_The Baker's Bread_' by some odd author with the pen-name of '_Nap Anp Pan_.' It was a tale about a Noble Woman who fell in love with a Commoner Baker and then forbidden romance ensued.

Yes, it was that kind of story. And quite popular too, as it was considered the second-best of his work, right behind number-one '_The Desert's Blade And The Blooming Flower_.'

For such a notorious ex-thief she had a simple heart of a maiden.

As for Louise, she was lying soundly asleep in bed. The arduous nonsensical trip taking away much of her stamina, so she went to dream land rather quickly and without a fuss.

...

The next morning, Louise groggily woke up to the sound of scratching on her window. Outside there were two owls with letters attached to their legs. She opened up the window and read them in a daze before planting the letters onto a nearby desk.

When the winged creatures confirmed their content delivered they both flew away in different directions.

With a tiny mewl, Louise plops back down onto her bed and yawns, falling straight back to sleep.

One...

Two...

Three...

"WAH?!"

Our pink head jolts awake, quickly scrambling for the letters.

One was by her eldest sister, Eleanor, demanding that she come home immediately. The other was by Her Majesty the Queen, Henrietta, containing her orders for the young Court Lady.

It was quite obvious which one Louise chose to ignore and which one she decided to attend to.

...

After an a stomach-filling breakfast meal cooked by Tiffania, our Louise was having a private conversation with Miss Longueville.

The young Valliere was explaining the content of her mission to the wiser woman.

Due to the failure of the invasion and the assassination, The Holy Republic of Albion, or the more correctly assumed Reconquista, were no longer trying to fight Tristain directly; biding their time to rebuild their forces. Instead, they were targeting the World Country using more esoteric and shadowy methods, such as inciting riots and rebellions, trying to whittle down the nation from the inside-out.

This was predicted by the Royal Court, foremost Cardinal Bishop Mazarin. Because of that, Queen Henrietta was able to settle down some of the more tumultuous problems before they grew. However, as a consequence, most of their remaining instigators and agents went further underground and were difficult to snuff out.

Hence, the lingering damages and corruption to society is now forcing the Queen to divide her attention between finding the Reconquista Infiltrators and maintaining the public order.

"So what exactly is she having you do, Miss Valliere?" the ex-thief asked.

"Ah, it seems that I will be participating in...," the girl looked at the letter, "'a discrete intelligence-gathering mission, whilst hiding my identity and blending in with the common citizens in Tristainia_,_' and the information I should gathering are things like, 'Is there any improper or underhanded actions happening?' or 'what kind of rumors are the common citizens saying?'" Though Louise did look puzzled at the last part, she didn't understand how the opinions of Commoners should matter to the Queen at all.

"Ah, so you'll be spying."

"Huh? Eh? Spying? Ah... so that's basically what it is..." the pink-haired girl sounded disappointed.

"What's the matter, Miss Valliere?"

"Well... isn't this just so plain? Spying on Commoners... isn't that pointless?" Louise huffed.

The ex-thief smiled and chuckled, "That isn't so, Miss Valliere. Information-gathering is very important. There is an old Germanian saying, 'knowing is half the battle,' and even Gallia with 'knowledge is power,'" she placed a hand on her chest, "Trust me on that, Miss Valliere."

Our heroine quirked her lips into a slight frown but didn't comment. Choosing instead to continue reading the letter.

A bar called '_The Charming Fairies Inn_,' recommended by Musketeer Agnes, was one of the choice spot to gather information, according to the letter. The other locations were '_Sea Salt Spitoon_,' '_Mosev Isle Cantina_,' and '_Saint Groove Juice_.'

Whatever the choice, a note to pay for some of the expenses was enclosed in the letter.

"The Charming Fairies Inn..." Miss Longueville said nostalgically, "Hm... that one would be the best choice. In fact, I know the owner, so we could probably get hired without a hassle."

"Really, you do?"

"Yes, I do. The owner's name is Scarron, he's... a strange guy," the glasses woman said wryly, "but a good man nonetheless. Most of the workers in the bar have a history and the man knows better to pry. So it's a good place to work at if you don't want any poking questions," she adjusted her glasses, "I also don't recommend Sea Salt Spitoon or Mosev Isle Cantina, those two bar are rather out of your league, as they're abit too rough for a young lady such as yourself to work in, Miss Valliere. As for Saint Groove Juice... well, I hate the owner and we'll leave it at that. So the Charming Fairies Inn is our best choice."

"Is that so?" Louise hummed to herself, "Ah, 'we'?"

"Yes, 'we,'" the secretary spoke sternly, "Miss Valliere, I am sorry to say but you are simply not suited for delicate operations such as this," and continued whilst ignoring the pink head's outburst, "I also can't send you alone since your familiar, Sauthoth, is rather... noticeable. And I have promised him to keep you safe, so I'll be accompanying you alongside this mission no matter what."

The Valliere mulled over the facts and was inwardly distraught but gave in to the mental prodding that dearly wanted to pleased the Queen.

"I see... If that is the case, then I thank you for your help, Miss Longueville."

"It's not a problem, Miss Valliere, earning some money on the side is also beneficial to me. Though," she added, "I can see that you're quite dismayed at the idea of not having your familiar around, so I'll try and think of something about that."

Louise bristled at the comment but nodded, "Thank you nonetheless, Miss Longueville."

"By the way, when must you start your mission and for how long, Miss Valliere?"

The strawberry blond reread the letter, "Hm... within two days of receiving the order and for a minimum of a month."

"That long, huh...?" the older woman mumbled, apparently doing some calculations in her head, "Well, I suppose that gives us enough time to prepare," she said with a nod.

"Prepare? What kind of preparations would we need?" Louise looked honestly befuddled. She was a noble, and something like spying would simple for her! Pshaw! What could possibly go wrong?

"Yes, preparation, Miss Valliere. That means 'to prepare,'" she crossed her arms, "You're far from the pinnacle of being subtle, Miss Valliere. Your haughty attitude is a dead give away that you're an inexperienced Noble trying their hands at being a spy. Only the stupidest or most paranoid of people would assume otherwise."

"W-What?"

The ex-thief gently took off her glasses, "That's why, Louise, I'll be teaching you how to act like a Disgraced Noble; pretending to be a Commoner is far too out of your league," she said with a devilish grin.

Our heroine could only gulp at her predicament.

"Yes, Miss Longueville..."

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Commoner Names_ - Traditionally, most Commoners only have a first name and no last name, and repeat names do not generally occur within the same community, though certain titles may be used otherwise. For example, if the name 'William' is already in use, then the separate people may be differentiated by age, such as 'Senior William' or 'Mister William,' or perhaps even occupation, such as 'Farmer William,' 'Preacher William' and so forth.

Because the close-knit and familiarity within communities, Commoners do not traditionally have a last name, using the name of their home-community instead. For example, Siesta hails from the town of Tarbes, thus her name would be 'Siesta of Tarbes.' For Tiffania, whose previous home was Westwood, would be known as 'Tiffania of Westwood.'

Further traditionally, even if Commoners move away from home-community, most will retain their community-name due to pride and heritage. For example, even though Tiffania has moved away from Albion and into Tristain, she still bears her name as 'Tiffania of Westwood' and not 'Tiffania of Valois.'

* * *

**Author Notes**

Finally back to Plot...! I guess.

I just slapped on a real-worlds lake's name for this. Me and my non-creativity...

I have also reached the point in my Fanfiction life where I keep creating new stories instead of focusing on what I'm already working on it. Someone slap me.

* * *

**Canon Notes**

Louise actually doesn't seem to know what a 'Spy' is, despite knowing what 'Spying' is.


	29. The Charming Fairies Inn II

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Twenty Nine - The Charming Fairies Inn [II]

* * *

First rule of Miss Longueville's lessons: Never talk about it.

_Haha_, poor Louise, _ah_, poor Louise!

Anyways, after a grueling two days of 'Disgraced Noble Training' our heroine pair walked from Tristain Academy of Magic all the way to Tristainia, because disgraced nobles apparently didn't have enough gold to rent a horse ride.

Louise grumbled all the way there but otherwise wasn't shouting in a tantrum or anything. Let us say that Miss Longueville... was very corporal in making sure the young Valliere didn't have an outburst for every little discomfort.

Particularly, that involved beatin- I mean, instilling the fine sense of money-management into the pink-haired girl.

No, she didn't need a horse that would make them broke. No she didn't need to stay an at an upper-class inn when they were suppose to be undercover. No, she didn't need the expensive services such as the freshest four-star meal.

Miss Longueville had to be very thorough in making sure that the young Valliere understood the necessity of frugality whilst undercover and that meant giving up certain luxuries for the duration of their spying of course.

Thus, the results of the training made Louise quite disgruntled, giving her the appearance of a new disgraced noble that was, well, disgruntled at their new way of life and lack of status.

Speaking of lack of status, Miss Longueville created a cover-story for the pair. She didn't think it was necessary but it was always a good point to have your 'facts' straight.

Louise played the role of a third daughter that was disinherited by her family due to a lack of magical prowess whilst Longueville played the role of a humble and trusted maid. It was all sorts of irony considering that the young pink-head wasn't actually that far-off from being disinherited only months ago and the green-haired spectacle woman's current position at the moment was actually pretty similar in nature.

So for this charade they were wearing Commoner clothing which, besides being more plain, also lacked the traditional Noble's cloak and pendant; without those Louise felt naked, terribly more so because she had to relent on not wearing her Devil Bringer or even Derflinger either.

'_You'll get use to it, Miss Louise. You'll have to, since you'll be spying for a month after all_,' was what the secretary said during training.

Speaking of words, the two females also worked out the way they would address one another.

As her disguise relied on her to be a 'trusted attendant,' the ex-thief would refer to the young girl as 'Miss Louise,' since she wasn't suppose to have family name anymore anyways, but to also show her deference to the young master. For the strawberry blond, she would merely call the older woman 'Longueville.' Neither had any major problems with that.

Beyond that, there wasn't really anything more planned to their pretend relationship.

'_Let them think up of their own reasons_,' was the answer the glasses woman gave.

With that all said and done, Louise was more curious, and concerned, about how the secretary planned to involved the twelve-foot armored familiar in all this.

The green-haired woman had simply delivered the riddle with a smile.

'_Don't worry about that, Miss Louise. You'll see him in a couple of days._'

...

The Overlord stood on the edge of the forest that was only a fair bit away from the road into the Tristain Academy of Magic.

As always, he must be patient for the plan to come to fruition.

The demi-god would stand here for several hours before Step One of the master thief's plan would even begin.

Ah, the things he does for his little master. The things he does...

...

After arriving at the city, as the sun began to wane, the pair first visited the Financial Affairs Office to exchange the note for gold.

The exact amount was 600 New Gold; an amount that was enough for your average Commoner to have an easy living for three months. Of course, in the hands of your more expensive noble then it wouldn't even last an hour, let alone a day.

"This is honestly more than we need," the ex-thief noted as they stepped out of the building, "Boarding and food is provided for free at the Charming Fairies Inn as long as you work diligently there. Hm... perhaps I should keep this..."

Louise only scowled slightly at her partner that seemed to be having a grand time with this situation. Or, at the very least, not bothered by it. Seriously, the older woman was the Head Secretary for the most prestigious academy in all of Tristain; how did she know all of this?

I'm sure there's a backstory and montage for that, Louise.

'_I'm sure there's a funny story to it_,' the young girl sarcastically remarked to herself.

Hey, stop almost stealing my lines for the nth time!

Uh, anyways, our heroine pair walked on the main street towards the palace; they were following Miss Longueville's lead instead of reading the directions on the letter. After some twists and turns, the girls were walking inside a more residential area of the capital, ones more closely reserved for the common-folks.

This was the gateway point between Nobles and Commoners. The road between the Palace and the exit, the homes and the businesses; a district unto its own. A world where hearty laughter, dazzling lights, and exotic music painted the dark nighttime scenes. Populated by bars, inns, restaurants, casinos, and many more, it is a street filled with energy and informality to cut loose and have a fun time; a true spot of congregated culture that embodies and exemplifies the name of 'World Country.' When people think of the best and most lively place in all of Tristain, they think of here, a street renowned for its level of entertainment that pleases the lowest of Commoners to even those of the Middle-Class Nobility.

Welcome to Entertainment District, Titania!

"W-Wow...!" Louise couldn't help but gape at the wild energy that flowed here or the eye-catching advertisement that went on. She never realized that such a place existed so close to the Palace, right here in the capital! "W-Where are we?" she uttered as she sees a chef cut up a fish in the air within seconds before it lands.

It was a bit tight though because streets in Halkeginia were at best five meters wide. So the pair had some troubles maneuvering through the crowd.

"This is one of the Entertainment Districts in Tristain, the number one spot, tourist or otherwise, called 'Titania.' It's a place where even Commoner Business-Owners can make as much as an Upper-Class Noble."

"R-Really?!" the pink-head was completely absorbed in the mood and was simply stunned. She was staring at a man who was eating swords and fire and swords on fire, followed by burping out tiny knives before throwing them with pin-point accuracy at a rival performer, who caught said deadly blades and began juggling them.

"Mmh~," the older woman hummed, "Tristain has always been considered one of the more culturally diverse countries, but Titania is one of the places that really cinches that vibe. It's said that even if someone had fifty years, a person wouldn't be able to explore every single foreign culture that this place has to offer."

"A-A-Amazing...!" the strawberry blond girl said as she watches several large men fight amongst each other in furious quick-speed pace all the while avoiding hitting the woman in the middle who was singing a beautiful song amidst the pounding beats of fist and body that complimented her voice.

Miss Longueville smiled at the young Valliere's wonder. Perhaps she should bring the family here next time she was free from work.

But right now, there was a job to do. She lightly grabbed the girl's shoulder, "Come now, Miss Louise, we have a mission to do for Her Majesty, do we not?" and began dragging her away, "Charming Fairies Inn should be right around there," she lazily pointed in a direction.

"Uh huh..." was Louise's awe-struck answer as she was enchanted by scantily-dressed woman and their mesmerizing dance in front of the more adult establishments that the district had to offer.

She would definitely never ever tell anybody what she thought about it.

Even if the furious blushing implied something about her thoughts...

...

"Gah, that armor weighs a ton! A couple of tons!" complained a strongly-built man as he sat down. He was beefy and large but still paled in size to his cargo, "Look at that thing! Freaking scarier than even the Manticore Knights and its even bigger than I am!"

The Overlord was standing completely still on a carriage. His glowing features only dimly illuminating his presence. His Chevalier Pendant was removed and his armor was covered in bright flowers and grass. Overall, he looked like an old piece of armor ravaged by sweet nature.

This was the demi-god's disguise into the city. After all, who would believe that the infamous big bad Black Knight would demean himself like this?

A bearded man with an eye-patch stoked the campfire to keep it up in the cold night, "Yeah, well, stop complaining. If ol' Borick was here he could help us with those Golems of his, but he ain't here."

"Hey, you weren't the one pushing this thing after the horses got tired. Augh! I feel like I'm going to be sore all week!"

"Were did Borick run off to anyways, Boss?" said an average looking man.

"Something about being a Beast Breeder or something. Went off with two kids. I don't know the full details," the eye-patch leader rubbed his bearded chin, "Said he'd be back after the kid with the hat becomes a Beast Master or something."

The tough man simply clicked his tongue.

The normal guy continued, "Ah, good for him. Anyways, Boss, what is this thing anyways?" he said pointing to the Overlord with his thumb, "You still haven't told us why were lugging it around."

"An old friend of mines called in a favor," said the boss, "Said all I need to do was drag the thing over the Charming Fairies Inn and leave it as a decoration or something near the door."

"So we're getting paid for this, right?" the muscle man quirked a brow.

"Yeah, we are. 50 New Gold as advance payment for each us and another 150 New Gold each for getting it done."

"Wow, that's alot for something so simple," the simple guy whistled.

However the strong man only complained some more, "Cheh, simple for you maybe."

"Stop your yapping, Henrick," the boss glared, "Its a straight-foward job for alot of money. If you want to quit then get on going. Me and York here will just split the profit between us then."

The bulky man named 'Henrick' simply grumbled but stayed put.

York on the other hand took a glance at the cargo with the corner of his eyes, "Gotta agree with Henrick though. Things pretty scary and heavy for armor. What's up with the glowing eyes anyways?"

"I don't know, magic item like those lamps or something that Nobles have? I didn't make the damn thing," the boss answered.

Henrick proposed an idea, "That friend of yours is paying an awful lot just to carry it away and plop it down somewhere. Maybe this thing is worth a whole lot more than 600 New Gold."

York seemed to think about it but the Boss quickly crushed any ideas, "Don't even think about it. Our current employee may be an old friend of mines but I rather jump into a den of ogres than to cross them," his two companions shuttered at the thought, "'Sides, that thing looks cursed, doesn't it? Like it could start moving at any moment..."

Upon realization of what was said, the three transporters looked at each other before swiftly turning their head to their 'precious' cargo.

"I, uh, I think someone needs to keep watch. To, ya know, make sure bandits or monsters don't attack," coughed the average York.

"Right," the boss agreed quickly, "Change every two hours. Henrick, you're first, then me, then York."

As the boss and York prepared their sleeping measures, a fair distance away from their cargo, Henrick merely eyed the armor suspiciously.

...

Instead of going through the front entrance, Miss Longueville led our pair to the back-entrance, which was more like a side-entrance for the workers to throw out the trash than anything else. With a quick flick of an unseen wand, she undid the lock.

"Why are we going through the back and not the front?" said our oh so observant heroine.

"It's fine, Miss Louise. I sent them a letter beforehand letting them know that we're coming."

"Through the back?"

"Through the back," the older woman answered with a fake sincerity. The letter was indeed real but she didn't inform her future employer that she was coming through the other-entrance. Though she didn't think the management would care anyways.

When both of them were inside, the secretary promptly locked the, _uh_, lock with magic. Following Longueville's lead, the pair made their way to the kitchen.

Inside there was a woman scrubbing dishes. She had long black-hair and a white bonnet wrapped around her head. She wore a green dress with sleeves currently rolled up and a white apron tied around the waist. Frills decorated the rims of her simple yet showy clothing and red trims outlined the white of her outfit.

"Hm? Whose there?" the young woman asked when she noticed two new presences in the room.

There was something oddly familiar about this gal...

"Hello, Jessica. It's been awhile, hasn't it? It's me, Longueville."

The dish-washer froze for just a moment before fully turning around for an eyeful; Louise, likewise, also got an eyeful.

The woman's face had a tinge of foreign touch to it and her eyes were an ocean blue. She had a red ribbon somehow tied to the back of her neck, or bonnet, or hair... somehow. And she wore a heart-shaped silver necklace around her neck. More importantly, she showed an impressive amount of cleavage that could easily get men drooling even more so than the seductress Kirche.

Her overall figure was quite appealing and she seemed to be around the age of eighteen or nineteen. Just like Tiffania, this woman had an aura and a face that apparently walked the line between playfully youthful and maturely sexy.

After a second, this beautiful woman cheerfully chuckled, "Oh my, so it's really you, Longueville? Dad said something about you coming back soon. Welcome back!" she said before getting back to work, "So who's the kid with you?"

Louise trembled at '_that_' word.

"This is a 'friend,'" our secretary teasingly answered, "Her name is Louise," and then turned to the younger girl, "Miss Louise, this is Jessica. Supervisor of the Charming Fairies Inn and also the daughter of the manager, Scarron."

Remembering her manners, and her current covert operation, Louise bowed only lightly, "A-Ah, hello, my name is Louise. I hope we get along," she quickly added.

"Same here, Louise," the supervisor replied, "So I guess you're here for a job again, Longueville?"

"Indeed, the both of us are."

"Ha? That so? Well, we're alittle busy right now, so you think you can help us out here?"

"Of course," the green head woman agreed.

"I'm sure you know where the spare dresses are. Don't know if we got one in the kid's size though. Well, thanks for the help, Longueville!"

The glasses woman nodded before leaving with a steaming Valliere and ignoring the girl's obvious discomfort, "This will be a good moment for you to get some practice in, Miss Louise," was all she said before heading further into the building.

...

'_Shit, I need to take a piss_,' the boss tragically thought to himself, '_But I can't take my eyes off of that thing. I heard a story about this once. Those statues that move when you take your eyes off of them or something. Or was it a walking suit of armor? Shit._'

'_It's just a story. A fairy-tale. Ain't real_,' he repeated to himself, '_Stop scaring yourself, get a grip!_' was his new mantra later.

He couldn't wait to get this job over with.

...

It was a hectic pace.

Orders were shouted loudly everywhere. The waitresses, indeed there were no waiters, moved with a swiftness comparable to a train army and flirted with a temptation that was palpable. The clanks of cups hitting tables and the steps of heels clicking the stone floor reverberated throughout the building as laughs and giggled permeated the air.

Little Louise was having immense trouble keeping up with the mood. At the moment, her only duty was to take orders and deliver them alongside Longueville.

The skimpy but tavern outfit she wore was a thorn to the young Valliere's pride, even with all the training, and the large crowd didn't stop her from getting any more conscious or anxious of her current predicament. Her clumsy and awkward movements also spelled the doom of several bottles of wine and beer.

It was going to be a long exhausting night for the strawberry blond spy.

* * *

**Author Notes**

I recently, as in when this was typed out, received a Review that was actually surprise that the Overlord was not trying to usurp power and dominate everything. I must apologize since it seems that I didn't do a good job of setting-up the Overlord's initial character-type in the first few chapters.

In the first Overlord game, there is a 'Corruption Bar.' You can swing being absolutely villain (100% Corruption), noble (0% Corruption), or just a jerk-ass (anywhere in between).

The Overlord in this fanfic is the Noble version.

So I apologize to anybody who wanted Villain Overlord. There will be unfortunately no random acts of violence by the Overlord; only deserved acts of violence.

I want to further apologize, because I have no future plans for a The Familiar Of Zero and Overlord Crossover fanfiction involving Villain Overlord or Jerk Overlord. And I would recommend reading the other TFOZ+O Fanfictions that do, as those should better tickle your fancy.

Lastly, I do want thank those people for reading this far. Because if you're reading this Author Note, then that means you gave this Fanfiction alot of chances. Thank you.

Also, once again, thank you everybody else for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and/or following!

Side note, I'm only one chapter ahead;ie Chapter 30 is awaiting posting. If anybody has been following my progress, they'll noticed that I've uploaded other stories... sorry. I really should be focusing my full attention on ZNO, but I keep getting dragged away.


	30. The Charming Fairies Inn III

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Thirty - The Charming Fairies Inn [III]

* * *

Rise and shine! For a new day and a new chapter begins!

And by 'chapter' I don't mean a 'new arc' or anything. Just literally, this is a new chapter.

Yesterday was quite the barrage of constant shouting and working that our little strawberry blond heroine had fallen asleep so very easily. Thus, she didn't get a chance to meet with the manager and owner of the Charming Fairies Inn.

Today, we all get that chance, dear readers!

So suffer with me.

...

Little Louise was standing in attention with Miss Longueville against a crowd of women; most were about the same age as our young Valliere. These women were all dressed in the Charming Fairies Inn uniform, which reminded Louise alot of the maid uniform at the academy, only far skimpier, designed to emphasize the bare shoulders, the lovely legs, the charming back, and, if the girls had it, an impressive cleavage.

The partially-risque outfit was essentially a corset with a skirt, fingerless opera gloves, a single garter on the leg, and a maid cap; all decked out in frills, laces, and ribbons.

Naturally, the girls looked very appealing in them. They couldn't beat Kirche who oozed liquid sex, but for the lesser men, or women, the clothes brought out their charms and were more than enough to ensnare their attention or tastes. As for Louise who wore one yesterday, well, 'cute' would be the more appropriate term in describing her flair.

And then there was the manager.

I just... I don't even know where to begin with this.

My all-seeing narrator view-point powers is burning. Inflamed. Scorched. Being cooked alive.

In other words, it hurts to look.

"I have good news, my fairies~!" the owner, Scarron says, as he stood in front of the crowd; his back facing our heroines who were positioned on the opposite side of the other girls.

His voice was rather enchantingly powerful, possessing a certain tone of sophistry that rivaled even the most persuasive-voiced Noble. Which isn't very difficult since more Nobles were snobs that talked with their wands more than their words.

"Yes, Mi Mademoiselle!" they answered back.

And no, that isn't wrong. This... _person_ preferred being called '_Mi Mademoiselle_.'

"TRES BIEN~!" he gleefully praised. As. He. Wiggled. His. Hips. Exaggeratedly.

The man was quite taller than the average person, being around 6'1ft compared to the Halkeginia average of 5'5ft, and had a body so chiseled and muscle that he could put to shame even the deceased Wardes' lean-athletic frame. He was also quite hairy and the overall sheer manliness of his body would make your typical Germanian man pale with envy.

"Ah~! But I also have some bad news, my fairies! As you know, recently our sales have been dropping; that shop, Light Music Cafe, has begun importing tea from the far east and has been stealing our customers~!" the owner says as he sniffles.

Surprisingly, people do come to this entertainment district for a good drink and not just pretty eye-candy.

But yes... '_Sniffles_.'

This man's looks and manners are terrifying. That is not a joke. I am scarred for life from Scarron. The only reason I am even looking at him is because I am obligated to do so as the narrator.

Anyways... the man was... well, his face is... manly with an oddly smooth but generic combed hairstyle. He had a thin but sharp mustache and a pointy beard to make up for that. His clothing were... a purple tank-top which didn't really fit and revealed his abs for all to see, a tight black short that squeezed his buttocks, white wristbands, a red band on his left arm, and a white collar around his neck. To top it all off, a thickly sweet perfume scent could be smelled coming from him even from ten feet away.

Seriously, how is this man and the lovely Jessica even blood-related?

Louise, of course, did not notice anything about this peculiar man, instead she was entirely shy at the occasional observing glances the other 'fairies' gave her. Though, one couldn't blame her, as she was previously a loner who was more or less shunned by magecraft society. She just wasn't used to getting positive attention.

"Don't cry, Mi Mademoisele!" "We won't lose!" "We'll show our patrons why we're called the 'Charming Fairies Inn'!"

The crowd of girls began trying to cheer up their relatively depressed owner.

A devious glint appeared in Scarron's eye as he widely grins. Performing a spectacular back-flip, he jumps on top of a table and poses intensely whilst flexing his muscle.

"THE CHARMING FAIRIES PROMISES: UN~!"

"Serve with a cheerful smile!"

"THE CHARMING FAIRIES PROMISES: DEUX~!"

"Flirt in an approving manner!"

"THE CHARMING FAIRIES PROMISES: TROIS~!"

"Milk them for all their worth!"

"TRES BIEN~!"

The hairy man began wiggling his hips again and did what would have been a fairly sexy feminine pose were it an actual female doing it. Satisfied with torturing my eyes, he continued on with the original topic about why we're here.

"Well then, my fairies, it is time I told you about our wonderfully good news today! I'm sure some of you have recognize her already, it is the return of our very own fairy, Longueville~!" the owner said as he presented the green-haired glasses woman.

The secretary stepped forward, smiled, and waved back as a few of the workers chirped enthusiastically about her return.

Nodding in approval, Scarron moved on, "And we also have another fairy joining us today! Little Louise~! Come over here!" and the fairies loudly applauded, some of them squealing in delight as our strawberry blond heroine stiffly walked forward and was tinged red in embarrassment.

Indeed, the outfit she wore, a Charming Fairies Inn uniform, seemed to be tailored exactly to Louise's smaller body-size.

Instead of the usual colors, such as red, black, or blue, her uniform was a breathtakingly clean white which only magnified the unique pink color of her hair and eyes. Truly, her imagery invoked the word '_fairy_' more than it did for her other physically developed coworkers.

Not that that made her feel any better; she had much better wanted to be sexy than to look cute.

"Please be nice to her, my fairies!" and the girls answered with a gleeful '_Yes~!_'

"Well then, Little Louise, go on, say hello to your fellow fairies~!"

Our heroine shook in nervousness.

It would have been anger, but Longueville was quite thorough in making sure that Louise understood that 'noble pride' was not needed for an undercover agent.

Thus, she was shaking anxiously, forcing a smile on her face whilst repeatedly telling herself that this was for the sake of the mission, for the Her Majesty The Queen, "H-H-Hello!" her voice squeaked, "I-I'm Louise! Ni-Ni-Nice to meet you!"

Some of the girls found that greeting positively adorable.

"Now applause!" Scarron shouted and the demand is followed by a roar of clapping.

When the applause began dying down, he turned to look at the clock that was set up upon the wall.

With a snap of his finger the little magical-dolls, located in the corner of the building, began playing an rhythmic upbeat music.

"It's show time~!"

...

Music! Alcohol! Cute and sexy girls in suggestive clothing serving food and drinks!

But it still so early in the morning that there was really only a couple of customers at best.

Prime time for the Charming Fairies Inn was actually late at night, especially since that other shop, Light Music cafe, was actually closed for renovations. And they were definitely going to use that chance to grab some new regulars.

So, unfortunately, the only people here right now were the morning regulars that already had specific waitresses that they enjoyed being served by.

So it goes without saying that Louise and Longueville were going to be waiting around with nothing to do until nighttime arrives.

Or it would have, if the rest of the waiting fairies weren't barraging them with questions.

While that's happening, let's take a quick peek at the Overlord, shall we?

...

The transporter trio were just outside of the capital city's entrance.

"We're almost there, boys! Just a couple of blocks more!" the Boss shouted.

"Praise the Founder!" gasped out York, "My back is killing me!"

"Buh," answered Henrick, his entire body was aching and he didn't have the energy to overtly complain about it.

The Overlord just stood on the carriage, waiting for his reunion with his little master with utter patience of arcanium.

They sluggishly move through the city earning some mildly weird and curious stares.

...

"Okay, that's enough, girls!" clapped Jessica, "There's things to be done and I need you girls to be doing them!" she said as she listed out jobs for the fairies to do. Things such as cleaning up the shop, restocking the inventory, going out to advertise, and so forth.

As the group of scantily dressed women dispersed, Longueville just lightly smiled, "Thank you for that, Jessica."

The supervisor returned it with a grin, "No problem," she had her hands on her hips, "Now I get to question you two all by myself!"

The ex-thief almost rolled her eyes at that. She had almost forgotten what Jessica was like, "Ah, of course."

Louise on the other hand thought of the woman's attitude to be vaguely familiar and annoying for some reason.

"Huhuhu," Scarron's daughter creepily chuckled, "So tell me, Longueville, what happened to your other gig? You know, when that old Noble guy hired you to be his... secretary was it?" her eyebrows almost seemed to be wiggling in anticipation.

"It didn't work out," she lied and left it at that.

Jessica merely hums at that, before turning to look at the tiny strawberry blond, "Oh? So what's the story with her then?"

"Miss Louise is someone I owe my life to."

"Hm? Is that so?" she grinned.

Louise brows furrowed, '_Ah! She acts just like Zerbst!_' and her lips almost frowned.

The reaction didn't go unnoticed, "Something the matter, kid?" Jessica asked with the same knowing grin still on her face.

"N-No, nothing at all," she quickly shook her head.

The supervisor merely laughed, "Hey, stop being so stiff! Everybody here is a fairy for their own reason and there isn't a person alive that would needlessly pry into someone's past. So relax, Little Louise!"

"O-Okay..."

Scarron's daughter lowered herself, slung an arm around Louise's shoulder, and pressed a wiggling finger on the young girl's chest, "But, you know, just between us, why don't you tell me your secret? Mmh, Lit-tle Lou-ise~?"

Louise could only stutter.

"Please don't tease her so much, Jessica," said Longueville as she delivered a firm chop to the black-haired girl's head.

Jessica simply stood up tall and proud, and laughed it off, "Now that's the Longueville I remember!" and laughed some more.

...

The supervisor of the Charming Fairies Inn was only slightly busy with washing the dishes when a fellow coworker ran up to her.

"Jessica, there's a group of weird guys outside putting down a giant piece of armor in front of our shop!"

She quirked an interested brow at that, "Oh? And why are they doing that?" she said as she put down the soaped dishes and wiped her wet hands on her apron.

"I think they said something about being hired to do it," the other fairy had a finger to her lower lip, "Why don't you ask them? I think they're still outside and you're better at this than me."

Jessica creepily chuckled; new fresh meat to bleed dry of their money.

...

At the same time this was happening, Louise and Longueville were inside the attic space and cleaning it up.

Yesterday they had spent the night with the other girls but it was rather cramp, so Scarron gave them the attic to use.

"WHY ARE THERE BATS IN HERE?!" screamed Louise.

They were driving her batty of course.

_Hahahaha!_

Ow, my terrible jokes are a detriment to my health.

Back to you, Jessica.

...

Outside of the Charming Fairies Inn, the Entertainment District Titania was relatively empty since most people actually worked during the day. There were a couple tourists here and there, but most will holding themselves back because they heard that the district was much more lively and exciting during the night.

So really, not much people were around to spare a glance to the happening in front of the Charming Fairies Inn.

Three men, a clearly Germanian man with impeccable muscles, an eyepatch person, and a plain looking guy were standing around after finishing their delivery of a large suit of armor wrapped in vines and flowers. That short peace of break didn't last long though because nobody expects Inquisitor Jessica!

She stepped out of the building with a perfectly pleasant smile on her face, "Hey there! What can I do for you boys?" and a flirty tone.

The average guy was instantly charmed.

But ignoring him, the eyepatch person, who seemed to be the leader of the group, spoke instead, "Just doing an old friend of mines a favor. Said to place that thing," he pointed to his cargo and then the shop, "over there."

Jessica took a step forward and giggled, "Ah, thank you for your hard work then. Say..." she walked closer to the leader, "you three look pretty tired. Why don't you come inside and have yourself a cool refreshing drink~?"

The eyepatch person was thinking about it. After all that heavy lifting, he could use a good drink. Especially after that long sleepless night, he definitely needed a drink. And this shop did kinda look like a decent bar, so what was there to lose?

"Let's go in and have a drink, Boss!" the normal guy said.

"Shut it, York," the boss said gruffly, "Our employer isn't here to pay us yet." Ah right, losing money, of course.

"B-But what about the advance payment?"

"If ya want to spend what little earnings you got for some lip service or something, then I ain't stopping you."

The average guy named York only gaped at the response but Jessica almost clicked her tongue and lose her vibrant expression.

'_Tough customer_,' she thought, '_Guess I need to turn up the charm._'

...

Meanwhile at the bat cav-, ahem, bat-filled attic.

"THEY'RE IN MY HAIR!" Louise cried out.

"Hold still, Miss Louise," Longueville said as she untangles a bat from her young ward's strands.

When the winged-creature was out of her hair, the young noble sniffles, "I hate this place..."

Sighing, the woman walks toward the window, "Please wait a moment, Miss Louise, they'll be gone soon." She opens the window and casts a simple Gust spell to rustle the bats and get them out of the attic. When the last one flew out, she quickly shuts the window close.

Peeking through the glass and seeing the small group below, there was definitely puzzlement on the faces of the people there as they watch the flying bats. The small-time crowd was made up of some fairies, Jessica, tourists, and, oh, Eric's group.

'_Ah, so they're finally here_," she thinks. That must mean that Sauthoth has... _secretly_ arrived. Good.

Though knowing know stubborn Eric, he probably won't leave until he's paid.

A grin crawls up her face, "You should have left and waited for me to contact you, Eric, instead of making a fuss," she quietly said amusingly to herself.

...

"Look, I ain't leaving until I get paid, and I ain't going into that bar of yours, woman," the boss growls out.

Jessica had her arms crossed and wasn't looking pleased, "Standing your in front of our shop is bad for business, sir. I suggest you leave now before I call my father."

_Brrr!_ Now that is a Grade A threat.

Before things could escalate, Longueville walks out of the Charming Fairies Inn door.

"Stubborn as always, I see," she gives him a sweet, but sinister, smile, "Eric."

Eric's brow twitched, "Dirt," he called her with the only name he knew her by, "Easy job, but alot of trouble it was."

"You know him, Longueville?" Jessica asks.

With a small nod, "Yes, you can say that he's an old friend," she said before turning back to address the eyepatch man.

She threw three small bags which jingled of its content and he snatched them out of the air easily.

"Well, there's your money, Eric. Thank you for the help."

"Feh," the boss grunts, "As if I had a choice when you ask 'favors' from me."

"Ah, speaking of favors... I see you have a good amount of gold in your hands, Eric."

His brow twitches again. Founder damn it, curse that evil woman.

"Why don't you come in and have a drink with me. You know, to catch up on old times," she said with that smile still on her face.

He stares her hard in the eyes with his one eye.

"You witch."

"I know," she responded as though it was the greatest compliment in the world.

And Eric, York, and Henrick would spend most of their pay at the Charming Fairies Inn that day.

Suckers.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Due to a recent review, again, only as of this typing, I am now curious as to my reader's preferences when concerning matters of Canon. Do you like it or not? Do you think I'm following Canon too closely, just right, or not enough?

With that said, I also want to apologize to the readers that were expecting Canon to be, well, utterly disregarded and I can only really explain why it wasn't.

And that is because it's the Noble Overlord that was summoned, which is to say that he's alot more passive, perhaps less ambitious, when compared to Jerk Overlord or Villainous Overlord. The latter two being far more capable of destroying canon because the Jerk relies on whim and the Villainous would not tolerate being strung-along as a familiar.

That is to say, Noble Overlord would go with the flow of canon, Jerk Overlord would mess around with canon, and Villainous Overlord would wage war on canon.

So readers who wanted more non-canon, if you're reading this then that means you've given this fanfic alot of chances. Thank you.

PS, I would be very happy if civil discussions about one's review is done through Private Messages amongst each other and not in the Review Section.

Well, here we are, Chapter Thirty is finally posted and I'm no longer ahead of schedule at all. Um... if I don't post Chapter Thirty One in eight days from now, then assume that I died. Or that I'm still working on it. Whatever floats your boats.

* * *

**Canon Notes**

The actual Charming Fairies Promises are 'Serve with a smile,' 'A clean store interior,' and 'Receive alot of tips.'


	31. The Charming Fairies Inn IV

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Thirty One - The Charming Fairies Inn [IV]

* * *

Night has fallen and a large influx of customers have arrived at the Charming Fairies Inn. Louise and Longueville were working incredibly hard as the occupied tables were filled up the very moment when previous customers leave drunkenly happy.

Though, only our heroine Louise was working really really hard.

Compared to the other waitresses, Louise simply lacked the experience for this kind of work. Sure, she got some practice in when Longueville's 'friends' decided to drop in for a drink, but that was only three people. Right now, the entire building was brimming with patrons looking to get plastered.

"H-Here's your order," the Valliere squeaked out with a pathetically weak smile, the customer didn't mind though because he had a vulgar leer on his face.

"Say, pour it for me, why don't you?" the man clicked his glass with a flick of his finger.

"R-Right away," she muttered and poorly pours him a glass, spilling a good portion of the content onto the man's shirt and pants.

"Hey, you're spilling it all over me!"

"I-I'm sorry!" she apologizes, '_How could I mess up something so simple like this?!_'

"Like an apology is going to clean this up!" the man growled and then stared at her, "Hm, you're really small but you're still pretty. Feed me mouth-to-mouth and then I'll forgive you. Geahahahahaha!"

A brow of Louise's twitched.

"Is there a problem here, sir?" asked Longueville with a smile, here to save the day.

"_Rawr_, why if you ain't a good looking woman? I could use your company! Geahahaha!" By the way, this man isn't even drunk.

"Oh? You want good company, is it, sir? I know just the person," the ex-thief chirped with a wink to somewhere far away.

Coming over was big ol' Scarron wiggling his hips, "Oh my, what's the matter, Longueville~?"

"This man here is looking for company while he drinks," she said with a pleasant smile.

"Tres bien, I can handle that~! Bring me another bottle wine before you leave, Longueville!"

"Right away, Mi Mademoiselle."

The man shivers, "No wait, I didn't ask- GAH!" he couldn't escape from Scarron's mighty arm strength as the manager leans uncomfortably close to him. The patron looked like he wanted to cry, at the very least his eyes were twitching. "S-Save me!" he shouted, but everybody here didn't want to interfere in that.

'_Poor smuck, bless his soul_,' everyone prayed in their hearts and mind, '_Atleast it's not me._'

And thus everybody went on with their blissful merry ways.

...

"Thank you for your hard work, my fairies~!" Scarron happily proclaims, "We're in the green this month~!"

The girls rowdily clap and shout some positive affirmations.

"Now then, come up for your wages, my fairies~!" the owner gestured to his daughter who was sitting at a table with a pile of sealed letters stacked on top of it. Today was pay-day.

Jackpot!

Meanwhile Longueville sat at another table so that the oh so tired Louise could catch her breath.

The pinkette felt like she could die, this was the hardest she had ever worked in her entire young life, even more than her duels with Guiche or her running away from the Overlord's rather harmless fireball, which both training had actually increased her stamina and endurance. It was the extra jitter and anxiousness that quadrupled her pressure and exhausted her mentally and physically faster than normal.

As Jessica handed out the wages, Scarron walked over to the table and handed the green-haired woman a letter, "This is for you, fairy Longueville~!" and then hands Louise a slip of paper, "And this is yours, Little Louise."

Our heroine could obviously tell that hers was far different from everybody else.

"What is this?" she asked.

The secretary spy took a look at the thin piece of paper, "This is a bill, Miss Louise."

Okay, it's not jackpot.

"W-W-What...?!" the girl complained weakly.

"Little Louise," Scarron called out like a lightly reprimanding father, "do you know how many bottles of wine and beer you wasted or the number of customers you angered?"

'_I lost count around eight..._' she dizzily thought but didn't answer.

"It's okay, Little Louise~! Everybody makes mistakes at the beginning; cheer up, my little fairy~! Just work harder from now on and pay back the bill~!" the big man wiggles out before walking away.

Louise grunts. '_I hate being a spy._'

After that, Longueville and Louise returned to the no longer bat infested attic and, after writing down some notes, went straight to sleep.

...

The next day wasn't all that different.

Louise got some practice in the morning with all the fairies helping her out, so she was less likely to drop her tray or trip over herself. And then night came and the customers filled the Charming Fairies Inn like a thirsty man in a desert and, well, her training mildly paid off.

Her delivery was less prone to accidents, unfortunately the little strawberry blond noble still couldn't stand the rowdy customers.

There were two types of customer when it came to Louise. The first were those who went, '_They let children work here?_' either angrily, dismissively, or disappointingly; the Valliere tried hard earning their favor by serving them wine and making them drink the whole bottle too, forcibly if need be. The second were those who were abit more frisky, '_A little girl is fine too_,' and enjoyed a tad too much skinship; the Valliere gave those a good slap to the face, either on both cheeks or the nose and, sometimes for good measure, a kick to the shin.

Being unable to please her customers or show them any courtesy, Louise was eventually made to stand in a empty corner to watch how the other fairies worked.

"Now stay here and be a good fairy, Little Louise~!" Scarron ordered her before moving on to damage control.

On the other hand, Miss Longueville would normally use this opportunity to teach Louise what went wrong, however she was busy working extra hard to pay off Louise's bill.

And so Louise observed her coworkers.

Bright smiles combined with light teasing, smooth chatter and hearty compliments, the fairies showed no anger and never let a customer touch them as they played hard to get, tugging their patron's string to subtly manipulate them into winning favors by further opening their wallets. The girls were all quite skilled.

Of course, Longueville was a pro at this. While most of the girls already had regulars to please and therefore their actions were routine, the green-haired woman was starting from scratch and was already attracting a following of a diverse number of customers. It probably had to do with the fact that she was abit more open to touching than the other girls without being too easy or too forceful, just enough to make the drunkards think they had a chance of landing her into bed tonight.

Unfortunately, none of this helped Louise.

'_There's no way that I can do that_,' she thought. Even if her disguise was to be a Disgrace Noble, she still couldn't go any lower than her pride allowed. Yes, Longueville had said that noble pride was a detriment to spying but Louise was still Louise, a Valliere through and through, so it wasn't easy for her to throw away her haughty attitude and responses.

Growing tired of watching, our heroine's mind drifted to other things.

'_Miss Longueville said Sauthoth is here but I don't see him anywhere._'

...

Outside of the Charming Fairies Inn, the mighty Overlord stands stoney still whilst decorated with flower as he watches the highly energetic perfomances of Entertainment District Titania.

Occassionally he got reports from Snarl about the status of Longueville and Louise, but in general he had nothing to worry about at the moment. So the best he could do was stare straight ahead.

The man who endagered himself by sticking his head or limbs into the mouths of beasts was atleast a good show. The fact that the beasts often got loose and ran rampant only to be taken down from a group of trained battle nuns from Romalia several times was the real cincher though.

...

Elsewhere...

"Hold it right there criminal scum!" said a deep-voiced cloaked person.

"Who the heck are you?!" asked a young noble who was causing a ruckus in a restaurant, "This is none of your concern! And how dare you call me a criminal?!"

"Did ya just ask who I am, sonny boy? ME?! ME?! Clean out your ears and listen well! Who the hell do you think I am?! I'm Inspector Dadget! And I am your worst nightmare, boyo!"

...

The young Valliere was diligently writing down all the rumors she had heard from work today, or atleast what she could gather and remember. Longueville seemed to be having a much easier time doing so.

So far there wasn't much after they compared notes. A couple talk about nasty tax-collectors, irksome young officers harassing the citizens, a bat-themed cape-wearing vigilante and a red-and-gold armored vigilante prowling the nights, dislike about the war with Albion, a crazy inspector, conspiracy theories, and other mundane stuff.

'_Just the typical stories you hear from Commoners everywhere_,' was Louise's drowsy personal opinion.

The girl yawns and puts down her feathered-pen. It was pretty late, with the Charming Fairies Inn being a bar and what not, and all the work was finally getting to her. She rubbed her eyes before finding warmth under her blanket.

Longueville remained seated by the small desk that was in the attic, reading The Baker's Bread in hand. She was used to hard labor and so wasn't all that tired and could easily get by with lesser sleep than most people.

"Miss Louise," the green-haired woman called out.

"...Yes? What is it, Longueville?" the noble girl tiredly asked.

"You did well today. Tomorrow, you'll do even better."

"...Thank you."

"Sweet dreams then, Miss Louise."

...

A week came and went with nothing major happening, other than Longueville earning enough to pay for Louise's bill and coaching the girl in her free time, and while the customers always had a story to tell, it was usually the same iteration that they already knew only with a personal touch from the speaker.

Oh, and Louise still hasn't found her familiar because she hasn't ever left the bar even once.

Isn't that sad, Overlord? You're basically taking a backseat in your own story right now.

_Ha!_ Oh well, I'm sure you'll get your glorious screen-time later.

Anyways, a few of the normal customers, who didn't have questionably unusual tastes, were finally beginning to warm up to little ol' Louise. And it was at a good time too.

"My fairies! The wait is over~! The awaited week has finally come~!" Scarron said in his typical manner, "It's time for the yearly Charming Tip Race~! UUUNNNNN~!"

Louise whispered to Longueville, '_What's that?_' but was simply told to wait for a convenient explanation by Scarron, who was actually decently clothed today.

The girls happily applauded and cheer.

The owner flexed his muscles, "Tres bien~" and strongly posed, "Four-hundred years ago this Charming Fairies Inn was visited by His Majesty, King Henry III, King of Tristain Entertainment~! He was known as a peerlessly handsome man, said to be a reincarnation of a fairy~! UNNFFF~!" he posed some more, "That day, His Majesty roamed the city in secret and then amazingly came upon this bar. At that time, the Charming Fairies Inn was not the Charming Fairies Inn but the Eel's Bed Inn, which lacked beauty and appeal~!"

He dramatically pauses.

"And then His Majesty fell in love~! AAHHHNNNNN~! Love at first sight for a lovely waitress, the very daughter of the bar owner~!"

He poses with a saddened form and expression.

"But alas~! Society would not approve of this forbidden love between a Royal and a Commoner! Torn between love and duty, in the end, His Majesty chose duty!" Scarron squeezed his hands painfully into fist in front of his face and then suddenly spreads his arms wide open, "However~! As a final tribute to his love, the king gifted the girl an enchanted bustier as a lasting memento~!"

He puffs up his chest with another pose.

"And as such, my ancestors renamed the Eel's Bed Inn into The Charming Fairies Inn based off of that final memento~!" he thrusted his hips forward, "UUNNN~! What a beautiful story...! Tres bien~!"

The girls applauded and cheer. For most of them, this was a story they had heard before. For a few, this was a grand surprise.

"A truly beautiful story, Mi Mademoiselle~!" "Wonderful, wonderful~!"

And then, as if his clothes were confetti, which I should mention that they were in fact confetti-clothing, also a very popular enchantment for parties, exploded like a pinata. Scarron's muscled-body was there for the the entire world to see, however, this time he wore a black bustier amongst his tank top and short shorts.

"Thus this 'Charming Faeries Bustier' has been my family's heirloom ever since~! The item has been enchanted to always fit the wearer as well as having the 'Charm' enchantment~! NNN~! Tres bien~!"

"Ah, beautiful, Mi Mademoiselle, beautiful~!"

Yes, it is definitely enchanted. The level of Charm is very subtle and weak though, and that's really one of the reasons why the Royal Family of Tristain hasn't taken it back. Anyways, the effects aren't any different from a person tidying themselves up, you'll just think that they look more prettier than last you saw.

Furthermore, The Charming Faeries Bustier is actually part of a set with elbow-length palm-gloves, thigh-high stockings, and a choker, called the 'Charming Faeries Wardrobe.' When worn together, the effects were amplified but still within a reasonable level. Curiously, it's hard to imagine a fairy wearing all black...

Lucky you, dear readers, that you can't experienced the 'charm' of Scarron wearing the bustier through my words. It's a very icky feeling.

"So in honor of this tragic tale, I started the Charming Tip Race when I took over the Charming Fairies Inn from my father. Starting this week until the next week, whichever fairy earns the most tips will earn the right to wear this Charming Faeries Bustier for one full day~! So do your best, my fairies~!"

"Yes, Mi Mademoiselle!" the girls chirped all together.

"Well then, gather your cups, my fairies!" Scarron gestured to a table full of cups filled with wine, which each girl gladly took, "Cheers!" he boomed yet sang. "To the Charming Tip Race's success through business and prosperity..." and then his tone became oddly serious, "and a prayer to Her Majesty The Queen's health during these turbulent times."

He clicked his glass against his daughter's cup, "Cheers!"

"CHEERS~!"

...

And thus, let me recount how this little week went.

_Hm_, oh, yes, Louise was very busy gathering up rumors without a care for the Charming Tip Race and was doing rather well chatting with the patrons and not losing her temper. However, there were a few bumps along the way...

On the first day, she was approached by a fake, or perhaps terrible, fortune teller who stated that her love-life would be forever dark. The man earned a stomped foot along with several kicks to the stomach which promptly knocked him out for his services.

On the second day, she served a man his beer and he had mistaked her for a boy, suggesting that she should stuff her chest if she wanted to work here. This man received an entire bottle of wine poured over him before being whacked unconscious by said bottle.

On the fourth day, she was serving a nobleman who had assumed she was a disgraced noble, which was indeed her disguise, and offered her a position as a concubine or mistress except in less than pleasing terms. The nobleman was beaten severely by the kick-happy girl.

Luckily for Louise, our friendly neighborhood ex-thief Longueville was smoothing things over with Scarron, so our heroine wasn't recieving any physical punishment, such as dishwashing duty, for her painful outbursts. Of course, she was getting scolded by Longueville after the working hours.

"Being a spy is troublesome," Louise muttered tiredly as she lied on her bed.

Casting a spell Tranquility, Longueville sets her book on the table spoke while looking at her young ward, "Being a spy is never an easy thing, Miss Louise. It requires patience and adaptability, cunning and wile."

The pink-haired girl flopped on her bed, "Ugh, but it's just so... boring."

"Perhaps you should take this job more seriously, Miss Louise," the woman said playfully, "Is this not an assignment given to you by Her Majesty The Queen?"

"O-Of course!" she practically shot out of bed, "I am doing an excellent job, am I not, Longueville?" she asked rhetorically with pride, "Everybody believes I'm a disgraced noble and I've been gathering every slip of the mouth since working in this bar!" she pulls out a parchment of paper from under her pillow, "See!"

"Yes, yes, I see your hard work very clearly, Miss Louise," Longueville said as she adjusted her glasses, "So then, what is the problem?"

She sighs, "It's just... I feel like I could be doing more for Her Majesty."

"Like?"

"Like..." Louise honestly didn't have clue, "something more important than this."

The tutor merely smiled, "All in due time, Miss Louise. For now, this _is_ important; The Queen trusted you with this assignment after all."

"Mm..." the girl mumbled before pulling a blanket over herself and huffed quietly, "R-Right... Good night then, Longueville."

"Good night, Miss Louise."

...

The fifth day, the final day of the Charming Tip Race, was here and Scarron rounded up everybody to announce the current results.

"I know all you fairies must be eager to know what the scores are~! So here they are, the top three fairies! Tres bien~!" he flicked his hair.

Silence.

"At Third Place is Fairy Jeanne with 49 New Gold~!"

Applause! And Jeanne nodded.

"Second Place is my daughter, Fairy Supervisor Jessica with 80 New Gold~!"

More applause! And Jessica curtsy.

"And finally, coming in First Place, is Fairy Longueville with 136 New Gold~! UN~! Tres Bien~!"

Greater applause combined with cheering! And Longueville lightly bowed.

Scarron's voice boomed over the crowd, "Now then, my fairies! Today is the last day of the Charming Tip Race. Because today is the Day of the Void, lots of customer will be coming in! Try your hardest, my fairies, for the Three Charming Fairies Promises~!"

"Serve with a cheerful smile!" "Flirt in an approving manner!" "And milk them for all their worth!"

"Tres bien~!" the man sung.

But, well, none of this mattered to Louise. For her this day was like any other day where she gathered information from the mouths of intoxicated patrons.

They said things like:

_"They call Queen Henrietta a 'Holy Woman,' a Saint, but what about the Royal Court? That ignorant youngster can't rule Tristain! Like say the Battle of Tarbes, I heard how she marched her soldiers tiredlessly without a plan; reckless! We won by a fluke, a chance! We can't expect the Albian Airships to have shoddy Windstones next time!"_

_"I've seen Arachnid Man; wears a red and blue outfit, I think he's a Wind Mage with all that jumping he does or maybe a Earth Mage since he can crawl on walls too."_

_"Kuh, an inexperienced whelp on the throne. Outrageous. It'd be better for all of us if we just surrender and let Albion rule."_

_"Have you heard of the rumor about an Inspector going around and reprimanding all those haughty nobles? Sounds like a great guy, if not abit eccentric."_

_"We should just end this war already. We've got those barbarian Germanians on our side, right? We've got nothing to fear about a few islander loons!"_

_"The Bulk is this Earth Golem that looks almost human except bigger. It's all green because its made of dirt with grass on it. Atleast that fella isn't here in Titania."_

_"I heard that the army will be strengthened again, and do you know what that means? It means bloody higher taxes! I can barely afford to pay for my beer as it is!"_

_"Oh, me? I'm not from around here, but since you're asking for my opinion... I wonder if Tristain's armaments can protect them? Doesn't Albion have some new long-range artillery on their airships? There was a rumor about a single warship defeating a small fleet at Bourbon, wasn't there?"_

_"Avoid the dark alleys or you might end up meeting Rawshark. Guy is mean. Won't think twice about breaking your fingers if he's looking for answers, and that's not the worst he can do. Even the Rider Knights have a tough time getting him; he's a slippery guy."_

_"We should rally our men and then strike against those foul Albian traitors! How can The Queen sit quiet after those crown-usurping bastards sent assassins after her?!"_

_"My daugther is the cutest! Look at this picture of her! She's the cutest right?! You're pretty cute, but nowhere near my angel! No need to be jealous, girl. Hahahaha! I must be the luckiest father in the world! Hahahaha!"_

Of course, there was more slurring, vulgarity, and hiccuping, but I cleaned it up for you, dear readers.

For the most part, Louise endured the insults against her best friend and stopped herself from lashing out at the customers. She didn't like it, but she was going to have to report this all back to the Henrietta without sugarcoating it.

Gathering enough rumors at the moment, our heroine decided to take a small break and watch her fellow workers. Of note: Jessica and Longueville.

Jessica was a master at faking jealousy, whether it was being blunt or implying, angry or sad, she acted as if she was interested in her customer and was jealous at them paying attention to someone else. Thus, in an attempt to soothe her, they tipped her extra for one reason or another. Such a method only worked because Jessica was above-average in the look department; her targets were always led to believe that she was well within their grasps.

Longueville, as said before, wasn't against using her body to make her customers open up their wallets; oh no, not at all. However, to say that she gave her patrons some skinship didn't even scratch the surface of her method. Her actions were flirtatious but not to the point she seemed eager. By using a combination of body language and words, she subliminally manipulated her targets into thinking that she was looking for a bedmate, specifically them. Thus, the drunkards were very happy and more open to spending more of their money that would lead up to the end result of sleeping with her... by drinking even more, to the very point that they accidentally knocked themselves out one way or another or Longueville steering the conversation away from the bed.

The two women's level of technique was simply leagues higher than even Kirche, making the red-headed girl seem like a child in comparison. Because even at her devious, Kirche was still rather straight-forward in her flirting.

'_Ha, take that, Zerbst!_' Louise thought. Which was rather petty of her.

...

Everything was fine and dandy until the doors swung opened to reveal a large group of men; about ten in all. They were a group of nobles, since they all wore mantles buckled with a golden pendant. However, the leader was an average-looking man gaining grease and fat and his subordinates were of lesser nobility. On their belted waists were sword-wands, though it is extremely unlikely that they were Mage Knights, or atleast well-trained ones.

The mood in the bar turned sour and the chattered immediately restrained itself to whispers and silence.

Scarron quickly rushed over but he was tense. He was a strong man but even he couldn't deal with a group of mages.

"Ah, Count Chulenne, welcome to the Charming Fairies Inn. How may I help you~?"

The noble scoffed, "Your bar seems to be doing well lately, Scarroner." That was a play on 'Scarron' and 'Commoner.'

"Oh no, not at all~!" a lesser man would have sweat bullets, "It's just a coincidence! Normally our inn is so quiet that you could even hear a mouse squeak~! Why, just yesterday I was consulting with my daughter about visiting a church or temple to pray!"

The fat-man grinned, "I'm off duty today, Scarroner. You need not make such futile excuses."

"Tres bien~!" the owner said with his usual energy, though it was clear that he faking it, "I would be more than happy to serve you, Count Chulenne, but as you can see our bar is ful-"

"Full? I do not see such a thing, though," he chuckled out.

Scarron blinked and then the mage knights all pulled out their foci with a grin or smirk. The customers tensed as one of the nobles jerked their heads towards the door.

A majority of the customers immediately stood up from their seats and walked out and only a handful remained. These people were the drunkards too drunk to realize what was happening or had passed out, while a smaller number were just drinkers who clicked their tongues but were too stubborn to leave.

Laughing, Count Chulenne led his group to a now free and large table.

Louise was standing at the sideline, having been pulled back by Longueville, along with Jessica.

"Who is that ill-mannered fool?" the strawberry blond girl asked.

"Count Simon de Chulenne, the tax collector assigned to Titania," the black-haired girl huffed with mild disdain, "Cheh, he does this all the time and is a complete cheapskate. Won't even tip us for a single service. Not only that, if you anger him then he'll just place outrageous taxes on your store and bankrupt you. Quite afew stores around here have already gone out of business because of him."

Longueville adjusts her glasses and mutters, "A scum of a Noble, huh?"

While this conversation was happening, Count Chulenne was examining the left-over drinks on the table and some of his men forcibly grabbed some fairies to serve them drinks.

"Oho! You seem to be making quite the profit here, Scarroner. This is a special cure-well wine from Romalia's Dul Grant Family and this exquisite alchohol is from Germania's Schmidt Hoffmann Family. Hm? Did you get new uniforms too, Scarroner? Why, those clothes looked to be tailored by Gallia's Casimir Gaulle Family!" he sneered.

This man, Count Chulenne, was a schemer. He would often research the stores he would be visiting and finding 'incriminatory' things to raise taxes for or threaten the owners with.

"It seems that I must thoroughly examine this year's tax rates when I get home," the tax collector said aloud. His men agreed with him smugly.

'_How detestable!_' Louise quietly shouted. The girl only had minor training for politics but even she could tell that Count Chulenne was abusing his powers. She was just about to pull out her wand and show them a thing or two as The Queen's Court Lady, but her shoulder was clamped down by a hand.

"Now, now, Miss Louise," her tutor said with a devilish smile, "Calm yourself. Try being diplomatic before relying on brute force."

The girl frowned, "What are you planning, Longueville...?"

"Mmh... just watch, Miss Louise."

The door opens up and several darkly-cloaked figures walk in. They are all wearing masks that obscure their features and their cloaks seal off any sight of skin or clothing. In a way, they looked like phantoms.

"NOBODY MOVE! THIS HERE IS A SURPRISE INSPECTION!" shouted out what appeared to be the leader.

"W-What?!" everybody uttered. In particular, Scarron and Count Chulenne were the most surprised.

"H-How can I help you, sir~?" Scarron had rushed over. These newcomers also seemed to be important since they also wore golden pendants clipped onto their cloaks.

"Ah, no worries, my good man! I'm just here to chat with Count Chululu!"

'You must be joking!' Louise screamed in her head with her mouth gaping. She recognized that rowdy voice anywhere. That was clearly Derflinger in his Inspector Dadget get-up. '_What is that sword doing here?!_'

The answer, which she would receive much later, was that Longueville had brought him over to the capital just in case; just to note, the Devil Bringer was with the Overlord. Apparently the woman thought that Louise might have needed the anti-magic sword eventually, so she kept him close by in the Titania District.

However, it would be such a waste to let the talking-sword do nothing, so she had already planned to use it, especially since she knew what Louise did to enter Count Mott's manor. So Derflinger was busy gathering rumors elsewhere in Titania but was also messing around with the more upstart nobles.

Though, as for how she could coordinate with the group, she was given a ring by Snarl that functionally worked as a minor overcore. At best, it allowed Longueville to communicate with Snarl without the fritzy connection.

"Who are you calling 'Count Chululu'?!" the man in questioned almost jumped out of his seat in anger, "I am Count Simon de Chulenne, the Royal Tax Collector of the Titania Entertainment District! State your name and business!"

"Pleasure to meet ya, Count Chuchu-train. I am Inspector Dadget!" the leader bowed somewhat and gestured to his group, "And this is my assistant, Pemmy. The doctor, Craw. And the tag-along, Brame."

"I-I-Inspector?" the count stuttered, already having forgotten the twisting of his name. Inspectors were never good news.

"Right, right, that's right. Been task by the good queen to make sure that things are running smoothly and what not. So I've been making surprise inspections for almost two weeks now!"

"Hahaha, is that so?" the noble weakly chuckled. He did not do well under pressure.

"Ya see now, Count Chuthulu, words been going 'round that you're raising the taxes pretty high and mighty," he wagged around a sealed letter in his hands, "Got a big ol' list here of complaints about ya and questioning your authority."

"P-P-Preposterious! You know should know how those Commoners are, Inspector! Always trying to play the row of the vic-!"

The inspector imemdiately raised his voice, "I TRUST YA NOT TO BE LYING TO ME, COUNT CHUCHULAINN?"

"O-OF COURSE!"

"Good, good. Then if I find out that ya were lying to me then I'll have you stripped of your rank and title," he moved closer to the count and spoke almost in a whisper, "Unless you've got alittle something for me, hm?"

"O-Of course, here, take this as a sign of good faith, Inspector!" Count Chulenne hands over a bag of gold.

Inspector Dadget slaps the bag out of the count's hand and causes all the gold to spill onto the floor; everybody gasps amongst the clattering noise.

"How dare you, Count Chuloon! Did ya expect I, Inspector Dadget, to accept a petty bribe?!" the cloaked-figure roared.

"BUT YO-"

"Blamsephy, hickery smith and flying pigs! Just ya wait, County Boy, Her Majesty will hear about this!"

Now, normally Count Chulenne was a coward. But when someone pushes a coward far enough, they either run away in fear or they retaliate out of desperation. Looking to his left and right, the noble saw that he clearly outnumbered the inspector's group and gained confidence from that.

Brandishing his wand, Count Chulenne jumps out of his seat and points it at the inspector, his men was momenterarily stunned but quickly followed suit.

"Woah there! Ya being a bit hasty now, aren't ya, Count Chewy?!" Inspector Dadget shot up his arms in the air.

"No, Inspector, I don't believe I am."

"Wow, a villain, truly a villain, Count Chulenne! I'm shaking in my little booties! Can I tell ya one last thing, Count?"

"And what would that be, Inspector?" the noble humored him.

"Bite my shiny metal pommel! GO GO DADGET SURPRISE!"

"YAHOOOOO!" shouted squeally voices as Inspector Dadget, Assistant Pemmy, Doctor Craw, and Brame exploded into tiny brown goblins and immediately the bar was swarmed by twenty-four Brown Minions.

Count Chulenne screamed, "WHAT IN THE FOUNDER'S NAME?!" as a Brown bit into his leg, "UGWAAAAHHHHH!"

Within minutes, the count's group of mages were promptly subdued. Knocked unconscious amongst broken bottles, dented trays, and snapped chair legs that were used as weapons by the Minions. They were also stripped to their undergarment as the Browns raided their stuff and then presented their bags of gold to Longueville and Louise.

"FOR THE PINK MASTAH!" "SHINY THINGZ FOR TAH MISTRESS!" "EHEHEHEHEH, BAGS MAKEZ JINGLY SOUNDS!"

Longueville crouches down and pets one on the head, "Good work."

The people inside the Charming Fairies Inn were so shocked by the scene that nobody heard a muffled shout going, '_Hey, don't forget about me now, Girlies! Ol' Derflinger here deserves some praise too!_"

"L-L-Longueville!" Jessica shouts, her voice brings everybody back to reality, "What is going on here?!"

The green-haired woman smiles, "Why... I just won the Charming Tip Race, of course," she said as she dangles several bags full of gold in front of the runner-up.

Jessica's eye twitches. She opens her mouth to speak but then closes it. Pausing, she puts her hands on her hips.

"You know, I think those friends of yours were right."

Longueville patiently waits, already knowing the words to come.

"You're a witch."

The ex-thief smiles even more brightly.

"I know."

* * *

**Author Notes**

I apologize if my writing style changes. I have several stories here on FanFiction and most of them use a different narration-style (mostly use of tenses), so I might accidentally laspe into them... Rather, maybe I should start using them...

Further shameless promotion, but please check out my other stories and review them. That is, if it's not too much trouble and is well within your enjoyable appreciation. If not, review them anyways and tell me how much you hate them. Thanks.

I certainly do love throwing in references every so often. A congratulations to those who can spot them and figure them out.

Also, thank you, Creeves59, for asking. I'm doing fine actually, other than jumping between multiple stories... As for the length of Chapter Thirty, it's actually the typical one: 3200 words. My word length is about an average of 3500 words per chapter; sometimes as low as 2000 or as high as 6000. If it seems short, it's probably because the plot is moving slowly, or the AN is taking a decent chunk of the word length...

Hello, Masin! I have actually seen the entire Macademi Wasshoi anime several times. Hapshiel is a hoot.

Also, thank you to everybody who made a review on what they thought about canon!

Finally, a honorary mention to _darksoulmoo_ and his The Familiar of Zero+Demon/Dark Soul fanfiction, **Phantom of Zero**.

And last of all...! Chapter Thirty Two is probably going to be delayed, sorry, as I'll most likely be busy during the end of October. I wager that the next update will be the first week of November at the earliest...

* * *

**Canon Notes**

Volume 5 makes mention of a Day of Rag and Day of Daeg; also a 'Week of Teuz.' So now we have Void, Rag, and Daeg. How are those connected? I don't know. I won't pretend that I understand TFoZ's calender system; that's why I made stuff up/took liberties. Also, turns out that TFoZ Universe does use a 6 or 7-days-to-a-week and not a 5-days-to-a-week that I'm using for this fanfiction.

At one part in Volume 5, Scarron mentions that a waitress earned '_Eighty-four ecus, fifty-two sous, and six deniers_.' Ecu, Sou, and Deniers; I guess, it's something like a Quarters, Dime, and Penny sorta thing, which should be more or less true because Gold, Silver, and Copper coins are mentioned as well. Earlier as well, there is mention of '_600 New Gold coins, 400 Ecu. 400 New Gold coins, 270 ecu_,' though I'm terrible at calculations, so I don't what the ratio is (about 1.5 I think)... Anyways, it's all nice to know, however as I stated in Chapter 23's CN, I'll be retaining the use of New Gold.

Jeanne makes about 147ng and Jessica earns about 240ng. Remember, 200ng is enough to buy a standard sword (which is 1/15 of a holiday home), and they made that much New Gold through tips; that's frankly amazing. However, I lowered the numbers for scaling purposes.


	32. The Charming Fairies Inn V

**Zero's Noble Overlord**

Chapter Thirty Two - The Charming Fairies Inn [V]

* * *

Time moves on.

Ah, no, I don't mean a time-skip; nothing of the sort. Just stuff happening that I'm only going to recap, of course.

Hm, so let's see, how did it go again?

Right, right.

Longueville won the Charming Tip Race with Scarron's full approval, therefore earning the right to wear the Charming Faeries Bustier for a full day. It was very alluring, I must say. And she received many many tips, so much so that she could almost buy half a holiday home if she wanted to.

There weren't many fairies asking around about Longueville's and Louise's connection to the Minions and also about the Inspector. However most of them quickly lost interest when neither answered their questions. Only Jessica was pursuing this matter strongly and almost got Louise to spill the beans afew times but Longueville always made sure to turn up before that ever happened.

As for the incident with Count Chulenne, well, Longueville and Inspector Dadget were very thorough in making sure that Count Chulenne and his cronies would not speak a word of this to anybody or they would find that Queen Henrietta would hear of their interference and receive a very serious punishment along with a stripping of rank and title.

One of the lackeys actually had the smarts to question their authority and authenticity, but when Longueville started waving around Louise's Court Lady papers in front of the Count's face they immediately lost all their confidence and begged not to be reported.

And I quote, "It was nice doing business with you gentlemen," said Longueville with a wicked smile as she finished her negotiations.

Thus afew days pass by idly since that incident.

...

Now let us briefly move on from Louise and friends and go see how Louise's other 'friends' are doing.

It was midday and Kirche was scantily dressed and lazying around on Tabitha's bed back at Tristain Academy of Magic, fanning her chest as the Summer heat was apparently getting to her. Odd since she's a Fire Mage, but anyways, she later asked Tabitha to the cool room with Ice Magic and just chit-chatted from there.

"Ah, it's hot~ It's really really hot here in Tristain!" Kirche complained, "This is why I invited you over to my family home in Germania, it's so much cooler there."

In reality, Germania was actually one of the hotter regions in Halkeginia, however Germanian buildings were well-ventilated and so in truth they were also much cooler even without the use of Ice Magic.

'_Should I take dip in the bath?_' pondered Kirche as she thought of a way to wipe away her sticky sweat, stave off the horrendous heat, and refresh herself all at once.

A loud scream pierces throughout the tower walls. It had come from a lower floor.

'_I thought we were the only ones here?_'

Partially true. There were afew teachers, servants, and guards still at the academy, otherwise it wouldn't have been opened, but their combined numbers were less than ten. Including Kirche, Tabitha and others, that was less than fifteen people still here.

Running down to further shouting, our Triangle-Class duo find themselves kicking opening the door to Montmorency's room, where the girl was being held down onto the bed by her boyfriend.

To keep it short, poor Guiche; yes, poor Guiche, was still suffering a tad from the after-effects of the love potion and so had an increased... desire in general to those of the opposite sex, which normally wouldn't be a problem, however, combined with the hot summer heat, his brain was pretty much fried and so his ability to rationalize things had already flew out of the window.

As soon as the delirious boy spotted Kirche's curves and near nude flesh, he jumped off Montmorency and went straight for the Germanian girl. However, he is stopped short by a severe clonk on his head by Tabitha's staff and then finished off by several stomps onto his back by Kirche's foot. She keeps her foot there to restrain him from getting back up.

"Did you give him another love potion, Montmorency?" Kirche asked flatly.

"No, of course not!" the blond girl snapped back as she got off the bed, "The heat must have fried that idiot's brain!"

Guiche groaned underfoot, "Where am I? Who am I?" The three girls stared at him. "What is love?"

"Hm, you're right, I guess the heat has broken him," Kirche said slightly bemused, "The heat here could drive anybody here crazy, I suppose," she pauses, "Let's go out to the capital then and fun have then."

Now, strictly speaking, Montmorency was not friends with either Kirche or Tabitha, they were simply classmates that sometimes bumped into each other. So normally speaking, Montmorency had no reason to accept Kirche's offer.

But she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth either. There was no way by the Founder's name that she would want to be left alone with Guiche right now, even if he was acting like a harmless bumbling fool at the moment.

"Fine, where to?" she agreed.

'_Is the me here but the dream of a butterfly?_' muttered the temporarily amnesiac boy on the floor.

"Hm~" Kirche licks her lips, "Well, I could use a cold drink, so how about a bar?"

Montmorency nodded, "That's fine."

With that decided, Tabitha closes her book and approaches the window of Montmorency's room and opens it. Putting two fingers in her mouth, she whistles and then jumps out; Kirche follows out the window without a hint of delay.

Peeking out the window, Montmorency sees that the Triangle-Class duo were already seated properly on the back of Tabitha's familiar, Sylphid.

The red-haired girl was waving her hand, "Hurry up or we'll leave you behind~!"

The blond girl clicked her tongue. She just didn't understand or mix well with the Germanian gal. Maybe it was because of their Element? Or maybe not, seeing as how 'cold' Tabitha got along 'hot' Kirche.

Well, whatever, she wasn't going to mull over something like that.

Turning around, Montmorency watches as Guiche dusts himself off. He wasn't looking like a dazed zombie anymore but she wasn't about to take any chances. She jumped out the window and was caught by Kirche.

"Hm?" Guiche hummed, "Where did Montmorency go?" there was a gap in his memory and he couldn't quite remember what he was doing before now. Though the window was open and the door was creaking abit, he wasn't sure what either meant.

Hearing shouting coming from outside the window, he peeks his head out and looks down.

"Hurry it up, Guiche, or we'll leave you behind!" Kirche shouted.

"What? What's going on?"

"We're going out to drink!"

Feeling a strange pain on the top of his head along with an aching body, he thought that perhaps he truly did needed a drink. He was also very hot, so something cold and refreshing would be great right about now.

Putting a rose wand in his mouth for dramatic effect, Guiche steps on the window sill, and kicks out with his arms wide open.

He was also caught by Kirche.

"I give that a 3," the busty-teen said with a wide-grin.

Guiche mildly frowns, "Only a 3?"

"I rounded up," she cheekily replies.

...

After a brief stop to Kirche's room to pick up her uniform, the four humans and one dragon flew quickly to the capital.

They were just walking around the streets with Kirche leading the way. However, she had kept writing off every bar in sight as boring, so the group had been wandering around for almost forty minutes now.

Of course, that was forty minutes too long.

"Will you hurry it up, Kirche?!" Montmorency growled, "This heat is unbearable!"

Guiche nodded while wiping off the sweat on his forehead with a flick of his hand, "I-Indeed."

"Well, then do any of you know any good bars around here?" asked Kirche. Frankly, she didn't visit the Tristainnian capital often.

The Gramont smiled, "Ah, well, I have heard good words about one in the Titania District," he added on, "'I've always wanted to visit that place atleast once."

"It's not some kind of weird bar, is it?" his girlfriend asked with a frown. She didn't quite like his tone.

"No, of course not! It's a perfectly normal bar with waitresses in lovely clothing servin- AGH!"

Montmorency started choking him. Furiously.

"I should have known that a womanizing fool like you would choose such an indecent bar! You unfaithful dog!"

"Sure, why not?" Kirche flips her hair back, "It could be an interesting experience."

"What?!" bellowed the drilled-tail girl. She momentarily loosened her grip and Guiche used this instance to escape.

'_I'm too young to die..._' he lowly muttered to himself.

The Germanian smirks, "Ah, is perhaps Montmorency the Fragrance afraid that she isn't as charming as a mere commoner woman?"

"As if!" she huffed immediately, "A bar like that will only have cheap wine, that's all. I'm sure of it."

Kirche didn't reply back to her, "Lead the way, Guiche."

He nodded and moved quickly.

The destination? Why, the Charming Fairies Inn, of course!

...

After some minor detours, involving the group asking for directions and shoving Guiche to move along and stop watching the scantily dressed performers, they found the bar they were looking for.

The words on the sign that hung above the door was teal and gold in color and along with a picture of a fairy with a tail next to the name.

"So this is it, huh?" Kirche said before opening the large double-set doors and walking inside. Guiche and Montmorency quickly followed in.

Tabitha was the last to go in as she was the only one to have noticed the flower-covered Overlord standing near the entrance.

She looked up to him and quietly said, "My condelences," before leaving.

What a good kid, wouldn't you say, Overlord?

...

"Welcome~!" wiggled the owner, "Oh my, I don't believe I've seen your faces around here before. Wonderful, beautiful, tres bien! I, Scarron, humbly welcome you to my bar, the Charming Fairies Inn, my noble gentleman and ladies~! Please enjoy yourself~!"

The girls didn't mind how weird Scarron looked, but Guiche on the other hand was trying very hard to keep bile from erupting out his throat.

"A table for four then, Sir Scarron," Kirche spoke pleasantly.

"The cleanest table," Montmorency added in.

"Right this way," the man lightly bowed, "And every table in this store is polished to shine."

The four student mages were lead to a table near the wall and settled into their seats.

"A Fairy will be with you right away, my noble gentleman and ladies," Scarron placed down the menu and gave another light bow before leaving.

As the girls looked at the food and drinks the bar had to offer, Guiche was soaking in the sight. Truly indeed, there were cute girls wearing cute uniforms and serving very cutely.

The boy was crying tears, or perhaps that was because Montmorency was pulling him by the ear. Hard to tell, really.

Anyways, the menu consisted of mostly of alcoholic beverages, ranging from the dirt cheap to extravagantly expensive and from common brands to imported goods. The food on the other hand was rather boring of the breakfast variety and had only a few specials.

It was a nice to surprise to Kirche since she didn't think the bar had anything going for it except the waitresses. But Montmorency wasn't as quite as convinced though about the trustworthiness of the menu.

"Oh? Why, if it isn't Miss Zerbst, Miss Montmorency, Miss Tabitha, and Sir Gramont."

Looking up from their menus, the four mages saw Miss Longueville.

"M-Miss Longueville, what are you doing here?" Guiche asked politely while he stared at the older woman. The secretary always looked ordinary at school but right now she was very alluring. His girlfriend then punched him on the side and he winced.

"This is just a part-time job until the school opens up again."

"But as a waitress?" Montmorency asked with indignity. She honestly couldn't understand why the secretary of the most prestigious Magic Academy in all of Tristain would degrade herself to working as a mere waitress in some sleazy-looking bar.

"Hmm..." Kirche hums, "I take it that Louise is also here?"

Following Longueville's pointed finger, they spy at the Valliere girl who was keeping company a group of drunken men as they babble their mouths off loudly. She looked positively bored and also annoyed from what they could tell.

Tabitha instantly understood that Louise and Longueville were actually on some kind of mission, though she thought Louise was doing a somewhat poor job of it. Montmorency and Guiche couldn't make heads or tails why Louise was here at all. And Kirche was trying to think of way to bring Louise over to tease her, this was simply too good of a opportunity to miss.

"Well then, have the four of you decided on your orders?"

Guiche ordered a meal for two alongside a few of the more uncommon wines for himself and his girlfriend. Meanwhile Kirche ordered four of the specials and some Germanian beverages; three of those specials were for Tabitha though.

"Oh, and can you call over Louise as well, Miss Longueville?" Kirche asked with a smile.

'_I suppose she could use a small break with friends_,' the ex-thief hums in her head, "Of course; I'll let Miss Louise know. Also, your meals will ready shortly," she said and then left.

A few moments later, Louise came by with a small scowl on her face. She really didn't want anybody from school knowing that she was here.

"Zerbst," she uttered.

"Louise~" her rival responded back.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, I just wondering how I should go about telling everybody at school about how Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere was working as a little waitress in some bar~"

"You wouldn't dare," our heroine growled.

"Oh, wouldn't I, Louise?"

Louise's brow twitched. Of course she would!

"So have yourself a seat, Louise~" Kirche purrs.

Dejectedly with a sigh, the pink-haired girl takes the seat in between Kirche and Guiche.

"So, what are you doing here, Louise?"

"That's none of your business, Zerbst."

"My, you seem even grouchier than I last saw you, Louise."

That's because she is grouchier.

The two red-shade girls continued to banter with each other until a man appeared at their table.

He was a Tristain Officer; a foot-soldier by the looks of his uniform, and his features described him to be in his early twenties too.

"Excuse me, my lady," the soldier started with a light bow. He was strictly only speaking to Kirche, "My name is Lawrence de Ashcroft, I am Officer of the Navarre Regiment," he spoke firmly, "My fellow comrades-in-arms seem to have become enthralled by your autumn allure and they wish to know the name of the beauty that has grasped their heart. Would you be as so kind to tell us your name, milady?"

Guiche gapes with his mouth open. This man was smooth, very smooth, and obviously very experienced in the way he handled himself.

Kirche lightly hums with a pleasant smile, "My name is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst. It is a pleasure to meet you, oh noble soldier."

The man returns a smile, "Then Lady Zerbst, perhaps it is frivolous of me to ask, but will you please do us the grand honor of gracing our table with your presence?"

"My apologies, Sir Ashcroft, but as you can plainly see, I am in the company of friends and I do wish to enjoy my time with them," she quickly rejects the offer.

The nearby table that the officer came from started to boo. Whether it was for Lawrence or Kirche, well, that was mixed.

"Please ignore the noise; they mean no harm," the Ashcroft apologizes, "But will you please rethink our invitation? Can you not spare but a moment of your time to bestow happiness for us soldiers who have but nothing other than the coming unforgiving battles of war?"

"I am sorry to disappoint you, Sir Ashcroft, but I have no intention to be in the company of drunken ramble," she waves his off.

"Then excuse me. I have you used up enough of your precious time, Lady Zerbst," the man bows and leaves.

The table full of soldiers increased in their shouting. They were slinging words of disappointment towards the man and words of insults toward Kirche.

"Now where were we?" Kirche asked whilst easily ignoring all the talk behind her.

Guiche and Montmorency looked at each other uneasily, and then the blond boy voiced their thoughts, "Um, hey, Kirche, why don't we leave?"

The Germanian girl sighs, "No way, we were here first."

"Zerbst!" Louise raised her voice, she couldn't stay quiet about it, "Are you not hearing what those oafs are calling you over there?! Are you going to let them talk as they please?!" Insults were a tad touchy subject for Louise; after all, it was something she grew up with since her Runic Name was 'the Zero.'

The red-haired girl smirked, "You're getting awfully riled up over something so drab, Louise."

Our heroine would have retorted something witty back but didn't get the chance to speak.

"Hmph, well, I suppose I should get this over with," the Fire-mage mumbles as she briskly stood up and then walked up to the table full of soldiers.

"Oh, so have you changed your mind and decided to join us, milady?" asked one of the nondescript men with a slur. It seems they weren't allowing Lawrence to do anymore talking.

Kirche scoffs at them and pulls out her wand, the foci is pointed straight at them, "Does that answer your question, gentlemen?"

Several men fell off their chairs laughing.

"Young lady, we are soldiers. Do you think we're lower ourselves to fight a child?"

She sneers, "Oh, I see, you Tristain Officers are afraid to duel against a Germanian, is it? How pathetic."

Another man chuckles off her insult, "Ridiculous, we fear no opponent!"

Kirche waves her wand and quick-spells several Fireballs to burn the feather off the wide-brim hats they wore. The soldiers quickly glared at her.

"So have the drunks awaken from their stupor?"

An officer takes off his hat and dusts off the singed feather, "Young lady, this joke has gone too far."

"Who said I was joking? I for one am being quite serious here," the red-haired girl said proudly.

Lawrence de Ashcroft breaks in between them, "My friends, calm yourself! You are making a ruckus and causing trouble for the other guests!" He sends a hidden scowl to his allies before turning with an apologetic look to Kirche, "Many apologies, Lady Zerbst. My fellow comrades-in-arms are greatly stressed from their hard duties; tonight is the first break they've had in weeks."

The Germanian girl merely hums, so he continues, "So I must ask of you to forgive them for their rudeness. However, I would like to ask of you as well to retract such a statement, Lady Zerbst. Perhaps you do not know, but under the Aucune Politique de Duel, no Noble here in Tristain may duel amongst each other without an esteemed witness from the Royal Court."

Kirche sighs boredly, "You Tristainnian Nobles really do give such long speeches. If this was Germania, the duel would have already ended."

A silence.

You could almost hear the '_Oh snap! Did she just what I think she said?_' notion running through the surrounding customers heads.

The suave man mildly frowns, "I'm afraid that I cannot let such a comment go, Lady Zerbst," and he kindly steps back.

Another officer from the group moves forward, "We may be Nobles but we are also soldiers; when insulted and challenged, we will not hold back even if our opponent is young or a woman," he nudges his chin to the door, "Come, let us duel."

Before Kirche could make her first step, Tabitha and Guiche stand up from their seat; wand and staff respectively ready by their side.

The dark-skinned girl was surprised, "Tabitha, you can just take a seat. It'll be right back," she said completely ignoring Guiche.

The Gramont falters at being ignored but keeps quiet and returns to his seat.

Another time, Guiche, another time; you'll get your moment.

The tiny blue-haired girl shakes her head, "Debt."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Kirche says.

"Debt," Tabitha repeats.

The Germanian Triangle-Mage lets out a sigh and smiles, "You're very stubborn despite your looks, you know that, Tabitha?"

An officer grunts, "Well then, young lady, have you finished talking?"

Kirche cheekily grins, "I beg your pardon, Officers, but my friend here will be dueling in my place."

The men look at the much shorter Gallian girl with a quizzical look who was already walking out the door.

The Ardent continues, "She also has the title of 'Chevalier,' so I'm sure you men will have a most challenging fight," she sneers, "After all, if you happen to lose, atleast you soldiers can say that you lost to a Chevalier."

The Tristain Officers are immediately riled up, some scoffing or laughing before walking to the door and out.

Kirche takes a seat and mildly mumbles, "I hope our food is here soon, Tabitha is going to be famished."

"I can't believe you let Tabitha fight your duel for you, Zerbst," Lousie scolds her rival.

"Is she going to be alright alone out there?" adds in a concerned Guiche.

The girl grins happily, "Of course, Tabitha isn't one to break her promises."

...

It was over in an instant.

Tabitha walked out with the officers following behind; they stood only fifteen steps from the other. Meanwhile the people on the streets hushed and moved out the way.

The men conversed with themselves, speaking of the honor they would lose from bullying a young girl. They came to the idea that they could save face by giving her the first move and their opponent thus.

Silently, Tabitha waved her staff with the minimal of movements and the whispered words of power titled as 'Air Hammer' melded with the wind and then the deed was done.

The five Tristain Officers were immediately hit and sent flying onto the other side of the street.

That was it, it was already over in a moment.

...

It was an interesting thing to see, as the Overlord had never actually seen Tabitha fight. He had certainly seen her performance at the Familiar Exhibition and he knew that Tabitha had defeated some orcs with Kirche during the cleaning of the Black Spire, but he had truly never seen her fight seriously.

And now he knew why, the young Gallian girl was, simply put, a skilled fighter.

She was not grandiose as her fellow mages and made no unnecessary movements or said anymore than what needed to be said, and only did what needed to be done. She had perfect control over her Willpower, using only what was absolutely necessary to cast a spell with the most accurate of results.

To be so disciplined at her age, it was incredibly impressive to the Overlord.

Was this what you called 'Talent'?

The book-lover spares the demi-god a glance and a tiny nod before walking back into the Charming Fairies Inn.

Ah, she's polite too. Definitely a good kid.

...

It was not even a full minute when Tabitha walked back to her seat and the whole of the Charming Fairies Inn were applauding the girl for her splendid victory.

'_TRES BIEN~! TRES BIEN~!_' you could probably hear over the background by a certain someone, '_CUTE, SMALL, AND POWERFUL LIKE A TRUE FAIRY~!_'

'_Ah, so the glasses girl got alot of spunk, huh?_' perked up a certain inspector hidden away in a corner with his partners, '_I like that. Good to have another Noble with some real back-bone to them._'

'_I likez to chewz on tha bones_,' commented one of the assistants.

'_I'm sure ya do_,' the inspector replied back before walking off to do other things.

A whole slew of fairies came to our heroines', and Guiche's, table with the ordered meals.

"Complement of the chef," Longueville added when the group noted some extra food and drinks, "It's on the house," and also said that thier original orders were being discounted by fifteen percent as well.

Kirche grabs a bottle of wine and scoots over to her friend as she pours wine into the girl's cup.

"A toast, to your outstanding victory," the Ardent purrs.

Kirche, Tabitha, Louise, Guiche, and Montmorency enjoyed their delicious meal.

What? Louise didn't order a meal? Why, Tabitha gave up some of her own dish to our pink-haired Valliere, of course. She's really a good kid; oh, that's my third time saying that in this chapter. I sound like a broken record.

Continuing own, after a napkin dabbing of his lips, Guiche finally had to the courage to speak, "Perhaps it's abit rude of me..." he started, his tone indicated he was talking to Kirche, "But I have been wondering this for awhile now."

"Hm? What is it, Guiche?"

"How is it that you're so close to Tabitha?" the boy asked, "If my memories are correct, you two didn't get along in the first year at school. I believe you two even had duel with each other."

Montmorency also piped up, "Yes, do tell."

Louise was curious too but wouldn't admit it.

Kirche looks at the silent book-lover and the nods, "Well, I just got permission from Tabitha to speak," and takes a drink of her wine, "but it's not a very interesting story, you know?"

Hm, well, to keep a long flash back short, I'll be summarizing Kirche's description.

The first encounter between the red and blue pair was during the entrance ceremony last year when Kirche had rudely taken Tabitha's book, the two exchanged names, and then the teacher reprimanded them for making a scene.

Afterward the two stayed out of each other's way. Kirche was off snatching up boys and Tabitha was out being a loner, but making enemies with certain jealous individuals all the while.

Then a week passed and the first-year event, the Welcoming Dance, was held. Kirche of course came seductively dressed and was wooing the male students when a sudden wind tore her clothing to shreds. A student came by and offered his coat along with pinning the blame on Tabitha.

The next morning Kirche confronted Tabitha about this. The Gallian denied being involved with the incident, so the busty girl declared revenge of sorts. Later that day when the Chevalier returned to her room, she her found entire bookcase burned and a single strand of red-hair pointed towards the culprit.

Night came and Tabitha challenged Kirche to a duel. The two chose to fight immediately at the Vestri Court and had a short exchange of fire and ice before stopping their duel. The girls cleared up their misunderstanding and caught the real instigators who were watching nearby.

They was a boy, a one Marcus de Lorraine who had challenged Tabitha to a spar for one-upping him in class about Wind Magic, and a girl, Thonet de Charente, the leader of bunch of jealous girls who didn't take kindly to Kirche 'stealing' their 'boyfriends.'

The Ardent quickly punished the two, declaring that she would be Tabitha's friend and taking revenge on the burned books. That was the little blue-haired girl became indebted to red-haired gal.

Montmorency was in shock, "So that incident with Marcus de Lorraine and Thonet de Charente having their hair and clothes burnt along with being hung upside down on the tower was done by you!"

"That's right," Kirche nodded proudly.

"Ah, so that's what Tabitha meant by owing you a debt," Guiche adds his thoughts in.

The girl nods again, "Yup."

Louise replies dully, "Hah... It's seem more like that you prevented Tabitha from getting her own revenge."

"Well, you could say that too," she agrees.

"You are... you are... well, you are quite something, Kirche," Guiche said dryly.

"Tabitha," the drilled-haired girl called, "You don't owe Kirche anything."

The Chevalier merely shook her head. The real reason she was indebted to Kirche wasn't because of the revenge, no, it was because Kirche said she would be her friend. Those words that day, it warmed it heart greatly. And what do friends do, if not help the other?

Kirche yawned, "Hm~ I'm feeling abit sleepy now after all that drinking."

"Is that so? Go home then," Louise swiftly suggested.

"Ah, but it's so troublesome to go back to the academy this late at night~ Maybe I'll just stay here~"

Louise sighs, "Whatever, you finished your meal, so pay up."

"Thank you for the treat~" the Germanian answers smugly.

"What?! Do you know how much all of this cost?! What makes you think I'm going for all this?!"

"Perhaps, I should tell everybody that I met Louise Francoise le Blance de la Valliere working here~"

Our heroine shuts her mouth and then Kirche drags Tabitha out of her seat and walks away to rent a room.

When the red and blue pair were our of ear-shot, Louise grumbles to herself, "That Zerbst...! One day, I'll definitely make her pay!"

Meanwhile Guiche was trying to convince Montmorency to also stay here for the night.

As the three teenage mages dwell on their particular things, there were several searching Tristain Officers, the ones who were defeated earlier, back inside the Charming Fairies Inn. They made a quick sweep of the premises but quickly walked over to our heroes' table.

"You three!" a soldier called, "Where did those two young ladies go?"

"They... They went upstairs to rest," Montmorency answered with a tremble.

The men looked at each other.

"So they've gotten away..." "That seems to be the case."

"Ahem," Guiche cleared his throat, "May I know what the matter is, Sirs...?"

"Oh, it's nothing at all, young man," one of the soldiers cheerily replies, "We officers thought that we should say thank you to the service those young ladies provided for us earlier, so we brought over our entire squadron to say our thanks!"

That's rather petty, if I do say so myself.

"W-Well good luck with that!" Guiche stuttered.

"Y-Yeah!" Montmorency nodded her head.

"There's no need!" the soldier grabs the Earth-Mage by his shoulder, "If you escaped as well, then that would be troublesome!"

The two girls were also quickly caught.

"As friends of those two young ladies, it is fine for you three to kindly accept our thanks in their place."

'_I kindly refused!_' the students screamed in their heads.

"Because, whether it being serving revenge or taking revenge... Those are all grand privileges of a friend, no?"

'_Like Founder they are!_'

"Don't be shy!" the men grinned, "Come, accept our thanks!"

...

The Overlord watched as his little master was dragged out with the drill-haired girl and the romanticist boy to do combat with a group of mages.

This. This was his moment to shine!

And yet he didn't move.

He was bored and there was no point in revealing himself just yet. So why not the enjoy the show? It's not like Louise or the other two would really be harmed.

Besides! Louise and Guiche could take this as improvised training. This could be a good experience for them.

...

An hour later, Kirche comes back to down to order some more drinks and spots Louise, Guiche, and Montmorency looking extremely shriveled and wrinkled; they were all dead tired in their seats and had their upper-bodies sprawled all over the table. Miss Longueville was there and was mildly nursing them.

"What happened to you three?" The Germania asked.

Well, they just fought and lost, of course!

Louise was able to cast some Fireballs and Slow but was quickly overwhelmed; Snarl was crackling at her misfortune. Montmorency had declared neutrality but the soldiers ignored that and soundly beat her down. Guiche had put up a fight with his Bronze Valkyries, but could not quick-spell and dividing his attention to control his golems quickly opened up holes in his defenses.

In other words their teamwork was atrocious! A for effort! But a F in practicality!

The group managed to scrounge up the energy to shout.

"You owe us one!"

* * *

**Narrator Notes**

_Mage Class Trials_ - In Halkeginia's societies there five levels of Magic for Pentagon Powers. The mythical Pentagon-Class, the powerful Square-Class, the mighty Triangle-Class, the strong Line-Class, and the ordinary Dot-Class.

There are two ways to officially rank up. One is by having a Headmaster of a Magic Academy to assess the student mage in an exam. Or Two, the mage must request an audience with an examiner from the Royal Court and tak that exam. If the mage passes, then the Examiner will contact the proper Ministry with the new details.

The exam is officially called 'The Pentagram Exam' and is divided into three sections, which takes five days to assess; three days of testing and two days of resting.

The first section is that the mage must be able to cast any spell at the Ranked-Class without suffering from Willpower Depletion. For example: if a Triangle-Class mage wishes to become a Square-Class Mage, then they must either cast several different Square-Class Spells or cast a single Square-Class Spell several times.

Basically, this is to test whether a mage has enough Willpower to cast higher level spells and whether they can stack several elements of the same kind. To be able to do this, a mage must have an inherently strong affinity for their element.

For example: A Dot-Class Earth Mage will be able to cast the Dot-Class Spell 'Bronze Valkyrie' about fifteen times. A Line-Class Earth Mage can cast it about thirty times. A Triangle-Class Earth Mage can cast it about sixty times. And a Square-Class Earth Mage can cast it about one-hundred and twenty times.

On a related note, A Dot-Class Fire Mage will be able to cast 'Bronze Valkyrie' about ten times. A Dot-Class Water Mage can cast it about seven times. And a Dot-Class Wind Mage can cast it about four times. This will be explained further later.

This is not because the Earth Mage has an increased in their Willpower Reserves. In fact, the common Halkeginia belief is that Willpower Reserves cannot be increased and already predetermined at birth. The reason a Higher-Ranked Earth Mages can cast Bronze Valkyrie more often than a Lower-Ranked Earth Mage is because they have stronger affinity for Earth and therefore they receive a 'reduction' in casting Earth-based spells.

The second section is that the mage must be able to cast spells of a different elements at a rank lowered than their desired Ranked-Class without suffering from Willpower Depletion.

For example: if a Triangle-Class Earth Mage wishes to become a Square-Class Earth Mage, then they must know how to cast both Triangle-Class Fire and Water Spells and Line-Class Wind Spells several times. If a Line-Class Earth Mage wishes to become a Triangle-Class Earth Mage, then they must know how to cast Line-Class Fire and Water Spells several times. If a Dot-Class Earth Mage wishes to become a Line-Class Earth Mage, then they must know to how cast either Dot-Class Fire or Water Spells several times.

Basically, this is to test whether a mage has a certain level of control outside of their own aligned-element. This level of difficulty is also one of the main reasons why most Mages are not officially Square-Class Mages on documentations; even though they can stack four of the same aligned-elements, they can't stack three or two of different non-aligned elements.

It should be noted, that because mages have an aligned-element, that also means certain elements are harder to control to due opposite natures. The patterns can be said: For an Earth Mage that would be Earth, Fire, Water, Wind. For a Fire Mage that would be Fire, Earth, Wind, Water. For a Wind Mage that would be Wind, Water, Fire, Earth. And for a Water Mage that would be Water, Wind, Earth, Fire.

The third section is that the mage must be able to cast Secondary Elements one ranked less than their wanted Ranked-Class.

For example, if a Triangle-Class Earth Mage wishes to become a Square-Class Earth Mage, then they must be able to combine every Primary Element with their Aligned-Element to create the Secondary Elements. That is to say, the Earth Mage must be able to combined Earth with Fire to create Magma, Earth and Water to create Mud, and Earth and Wind to create Sand.

Due to unexplained reasons, a Mage cannot create a Secondary Element if one of the elements used is not the Mage's Aligned-Element. So even a Square-Class Earth Mage cannot combine Fire and Wind, Fire and Water, or Water and Wind together; they must combine Earth with another element. Refer to Chapter Nine Narrator Notes for a brief refresher.

Basically, this is to test whether a mage has achieved a certain level of mastery over their Aligned-Element, of which combining elements is considered the current pinnacle of Elemental Mastery. And this level of difficult is the other main reason why most Mages are not ranked at Triangle-Class or Square-Class. This is further compounded because most Mages do not look to expand outside their Aligned-Element and only excel in that particular alignment.

Because of these factors, the general requirement has been relaxed over the past centuries. What Halkeginian's consider today as Square or Triangle-Class would qualified as a very low Triangle or low Line in ancient times.

In short: There are Three Exams for a Mage to take to rise in the Pentagon-Class and the level of diffiuclty has been greatly reduced since their time of conceptions.

* * *

**Author Notes**

I actually finished up my business earlier than expected; about two weeks earlier. I kept telling myself that I had time to write several chapters for ZNO, but...

So am I running out of steam? Probably, yes. I have the story in my head but I don't feel like typing it out, strangely enough... All I can do to counter this is by typing out bits and pieces of the story here and there. So my update speed is really suffering for ZNO right now... I really have no idea when Chapter Thirty Three will be out; sorry.

Anyways, I'm wrapping up the Charming Fairies Arc between this chapter and the next.

Montmorency is surprisingly very similar to Louise...

Several ways the bar fight could have gone: One, Inspector Dadget makes a move, the Overlord interrupts. Three, Kirche fights and wins.

It's been awhile since I've had a Narrator Note, so here's a big one for anybody who loves world-building, it really does take up a significant chunk of the word count. Sometimes I feel like I love filling in the blanks more than writing out the story...

I could have made the end-fight alittle bit more serious, but I decided not to.

* * *

**Canon Notes**

The foot-soldier is nameless in canon and his is regiment is 'Navaaru.' There's only three in the initial encounter but I increased their numbers to five.

I, uh, used an online-translator for the 'No Duel Policy.'

According to Volume 5, each students, in every year, are divided into three different classes named after three Saints; Suen, Iyer, and Seger. All three are from different cultures that I can't tell what ties them together nor do they seem to be based on actual Saints. So if there ever comes a time when they matter, for developing Halkeginia's history, I'll name them after heroes instead; like Saint George the Dragon Slayer, Jeanne d'Arc, and King Arthur. Um, yeah.

Also mentioned in Volume 5 is that Flight is apparently a basic Wind Magic, along with Levitation... that's odd.

De Lorraine doesn't have a first name.


End file.
